UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


UN  TV  '  ^^ORNIA 

LlbKAKi' 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF    THE 


SECOND 
NATIONAL 
CONFERENCE 


ON 


VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

NEW  YORK,  OCTOBER  23—26,  1912 

UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE 
CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  ON 
VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE 


PRICE,   ONE   DOLLAR 


NINETEEN       HUNDRED       THIRTEEN 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE 
SECOND  NATIONAL  CONFERENCE 

•  O  N  =^=1== 

VOCATIONAL    GUIDANCE 


NEW       YORK 
OCTOBER   23    TO    26,    1912 

UNDER    THE    AUSPICES    OF   THE 

central   committee 
Vocational  Guidance 


HENRIETTA  RODMAN.  Chairman 
Wadleigh   High  School,     -     -    New   York 

BENJAMIN    C.    GRUENBERG,    Sec'y 
Commercial  High    School,     -     -    Brooklyn 


PUBLISHED     BY     THE     SECRETARY 

=^  NEW    YORK= 

MAY      .      NINETEEN      THIRTEEN 


r  <n 


FOREWORD 


THE  first  national  conference  on  the  subject  of  Vocational 
Guidance  was  held  in  Boston,  in  November,  1910.  This  was 
held  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  Vocation  Bureau  and  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Boston.  A  number  of  addresses 
were  delivered  by  educators,  business  men,  publicists  and  special 
st^idents  of  the  problems.  No  record  was  made  of  the  meeting,  and 
the  discussion  was  largely  devoted  to  the  statement  of  conditions  that 
pointed  to  the  need  for  vocational  guidance. 

The  second  conference,  of  which  this  book  is  a  report,  was  organ- 
ized by  the  officers  of  The  Central  Committee  on  Vocational  Guidance 
of  New  York  City,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Conference  Committee. 
As  no  provision  had  been  made  for  financing  the  conference  adequately, 
the  stenographic  notes  and  the  printing  of  the  proceedings  were  under- 
taken by  myself  in  the  belief  that  the  record  would  have  permanent 
value,  if  only  of  a  historic  kind.  Already  there  have  been  inquiries 
in  regard  to  the  "first  volume"  of  proceedings;  but  there  is  no  first 
volume.  The  history  of  the  vocational  guidance  movement  in  this 
country  between  1910  and  1912  is  summarized  in  the  addresses  here 
printed;  what  went  before  1910  is  recorded  in  scattered  writings. 

I  wish  to  thank  the  authors  of  the  several  papers  for  their  co- 
operation in  preparing  the  manuscripts  from  the  stenographer's  notes, 
and  in  reading  proof.  Without  their  assistance  this  book  would  have 
been  impossible. 

Benj.  C.  Gruenberg. 

Commercial   High   School, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Ill 


Conference  Committee 


Martha  Draper,  Member  Board  of  Education. 

Edwin  W.  Gaillard,  New  York  Public  Library. 

Olivia  Leventritt,  Member  Board  of  Education. 

Herman  A.  Metz,  Member  Board  of  Education. 

Frederick  B.  Pratt,  Treasurer,  National  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 

William  C.  Redfield,  President,  National  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 

Stuart  H.  Rowe,  Principal  Wadleigh  High  School. 

Edward  L.  Stevens,  Associate  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

I'ELix  M.  Warburg,  Former  Member  Board  of  Education. 


IV 


CONTENTS 


Session  of  Wednesday  Afternoon,  October  23. 

CONFERENCE      ON      PLACEMENT  —  Edward     T.     Devine, 

chairman     1 

The  Placing  of  the  Unskilled  Girl— Mrs.  P.  J.  O'Connell 2 

Getting  in  Touch  with  the  Employer — Eli  W.  Weaver 9 

The   Untrained   Child — Anne   S.    Davis 14 

The  Placement  of  Average  Children — Bertha  M.  Stevens 18 

Summary — Frank    \'.    Thompson 20 

Session  of  Wednesday  Evening,   October  23. 

CONFERENCE  ON  FOLLOW-UP— Alice  P.  Barrows,  chairman     24 

Practical  Follow-up  Work  of  the   Hebrew  Technical  Institute — 

Edgar  S.   Barney 25 

The  Legal   Registration  of  Certificates  as  an  Aid  to   Follow-up 

Work— Helen  T.  Woolley 21 

The  Difficulties  and  PossibiHties  of  Follow-up  Work  on  a  Large 

Scale — George  H.  Chatfield 30 

Summary — Elsa   Ueland  31 

Session  of  Thursday  Afternoon,  October  24. 

CONFERENCE  ON  STUDY  OF  OCCUPATIONS— Edward  L. 

Stevens,  chairman    2>1 

What    We     Need    to     Know    About  ,  Occupations— Charles     R. 

Richards 2>^ 

A  Method  of  Industrial  Surveys — John  A.  Fitch 44 

Investigations,  the  Need  and  Value — Mrs.   Mary  Schcnck  Wool- 
man  5,] 

Summary — Frances   I'crkins 56 

V 


Session  of  Thursday  Evening,  October  24.  , 

CONFERENCE  ON  SCHOLARSHIPS— Mrs.  Florence  Kelley, 

chairman 59 

Child  Labor  Scholarships  of  New  York  City— Leo  Arnstein .59 

Private  Scholarship  Funds — M.   Edith  Campbell (i7 

Some  School  and  Vocational  Scholarships  in  New  York  City- 
Pauline  Goldmark   74 

Summary— Lillian  D.  Wald   /^ 

Session  of  Friday  Afternoon,  October  25. 

CONFERENCE    ON   VOCATIONAL    ANALYSIS— Stuart    H. 


Rowe,  chairman 


I-* 


The  Psychological    Laboratory   as  an    Adjunct   to    a    Vocational 

Bureau— Helen    T.   Woolley 84 

Experimental    Psychology    in    Vocational     Guidance — James    E. 

Lough 89 

A   Cooperative   System   of   Vocational   Analysis   and   Guidance — 

Gustave  A.  Blumenthal   97 

Self-Analysis  by  High  School  Girls — Henrietta  Rodman 101 

Summary — Frederick  G.   Bonser    102 

Discussion — R.  S.  Woodworth    105 

Session  of  Friday  Evening,  October  25. 

CONFERENCE  ON  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  VOCATIONAL 

TRAINING — Charles  S.   Bernheimer,  chairman 106 

Opportunities  for  Vocational  Training  in  Boston — Mrs.  Bryant  B. 

Glenny 107 

The  Place  of  Vocational  Guidance  in  the  Vocational  Education 

Movement — Arthur  D.  Dean  122 

Efficiency  Engineering  in  Education — May  E.  Rivkin 128 

Summary — Arthur  W.  Dunn   13.^ 

Session  of  Saturday  Morning,  October  26. 

CONFERENCE  ON  METHODS  OF  VOCATIONAL  DIREC- 
TION— Benjamin    C.    Gruenberg,    chairman 136 

Vocational  Guidance  Through  School  Work— Jesse  B.  Davis 137 

VI 


Vocational  Guidance  for  Smaller  Cities— Annie  E.  McCord 144 

Vocational  Conferences  with  Expert  Workers— Kate   E.   Turner  147 

Vocational    Guidance    and    Vocational    Investigation    under    the 

Direction  of  the  Boston  School  Board — Eleanor  Colleton  154 

Summary — William  Wiener   163 

Session  of  Saturday  Afternoon,  October  26. 

CONFERENCE  ON  THE  RELATION  OF  VOCATIONAL 
GUIDANCE  TO  THE  EMPLOYER— Herman  A.  Metz, 
chairman     167 

What  Business  Expects  of  the  Schools — J.  Franklin  Crowell....    167 

Relation  of  Vocational  Guidance  to  the  Employer — A.   Lincoln 

Filene 173 

Summary — Meyer   Bloomfield    177 

Discussion ^79 

Addresses  Delivered  at  the  Closing  Dinner,  Saturday  Evening,  October  26. 

Hon.  Cyrus  C.  Miller 184 

Dr.    Edward    L.    Stevens 186 

Mr.  Meyer  Bloomfield   189 

Dr.  Frederick  C.  Howe 19.^ 

Mr.  John  Martin 194 

Dr.  William  H.  Allen 197 

Miss   Leonora   O'Reilly    200 

Session  for  the  Transaction  of  General  Business,     Saturday  Afternoon, 

October  26 205 


VII 


SESSION   OF  WEDNESDAY   AFTERNOON,   OCTOBER  23 
At   the   Hebrew   Technical   School   for    Girls 

CONFERENCE  ON  PLACEMENT 

Chairman,  Dr.  Edward  T.  Devine 
Professor  of   Social    Economy,    Columbia   University 

The  Chairman  :  You  will  notice  that  this  is  the  second  Voca- 
tional Guidance  Conference.  That  is  one  indication,  among  many,  that 
we  are  not  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  movement  for  vocational  guid- 
ance. We  have  arrived  at  a  certain  stage.  We  perhaps  do  not  need, 
as  we  did  a  few  years  ago,  to  preach  the  idea  of  vocational  guidance  as 
essential.  That  idea  is  in  the  air,  and  has  been  accepted  by  a  great 
many  people.  We  are  perhaps  somewhat  at  the  point  of  the  University 
student  who  came  in  late  to  his  class  one  day.  The  Professor  was 
very  much  annoyed,  and  he  showed  his  annoyance.  At  the  end  of  the 
hour  the  student  thought  he  would  square  himself  as  well  as  he  could 
by  apologizing,  and  he  said,  "Professor,  that  watch  of  mine  has  gone 
back  on  me  again.  The  fact  is,  I  have  lost  faith  in  that  watch  of  mine 
entirely."  The  Professor  said,  "What  your  watch  needs  is  not  faith 
but  works."  It  may  be  that  the  time  has  come  for  us  to  put  into  prac- 
tice the  ideas  that  the  pioneers  in  this  field  have  been  thinking  out. 
And  yet  that  also  might  be  misinterpreted,  because  when  we  say  that 
the  time  has  come  for  works,  to  put  into  force  the  ideas  about  voca- 
tional guidance,  we  do  not  mean  by  that,  of  course,  that  children  by  tha 
wholesale  are  to  be  given  a  tremendous  shove  into  industry.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  sound  doctrine  in  the  idea  that  the  only  place  to  put 
people  under  eighteen  years  of  age  is  in  school,  and  we  assume  a  seriou*^ 
lesponsibility  if  we  in  any  way  seem  to  give  prominence  to  the  idea 
that  the  chief  task  is  to  put  people  into  positions  rather  than  to  keep 
them  out  of  positions.  I  suppose  that  those  who  are  in  the  Vocational 
Guidance  movement  really  appreciate  quite  as  strongly  as  the  Child 
Labor  Committee  or  any  others  do  that  children  are  not  to  be  encour- 
c^ged  to  work  for  wages ;  that  children,  on  the  contrary,  are  to  spend 
their  time  in  education,  development  and  training.  In  other  words, 
as  Dr.  Henderson  has  so  well  expressed  it  in  his  little  book  Pay  Day, 
'  Education  and  industry  should  get  together,  but  it  should  be  on  edu- 
cation's terms,  not  on  industry's  terms."  Now,  that  is,  as  I  interprei 
il,  what  this  Vocational  Guidance  movement  means — that  the  task  of 
the  educator  does  not  end  with  the  class  room,  but  that  it  follows  the 
boy  and  girl  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  a  rational  adjustment  to  his 
work.  There  are  many  things  to  be  considered:  His  individual  capa- 
cities, the  training  that  he  has  had,  the  opportunities  that  the  com- 


2  pi,ace:ment 

iiiunity  presents, — and  that  also  is  an  educational  problem  in  which 
teachers  as  such  and  parents  as  such,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  real 
interests  of  their  children,  are  necessarily  interested.  And  it  is  in  thai 
spirit,  with  that  point  of  view,  that  this  Conference  comes  together. 


THE  PLACING  OF  THE  UNSKILLED   GIRL 

Mrs.  p.  T.  O'Connell 

Superintendent  Alliance  Employment  Bureau,  New  York 

(  )ur  i)rol)lem  at  the  Alliance  Employment  liureau  is,  in  the  main, 
the  placing  of  the  unskilled  girl.  To  be  sure,  we  place  stenographers, 
dressmakers,  milliners,  etc..  and  boys  up  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  but 
probably  three-fourths  of  our  applicants  are  girls  fresh  from  school 
or  those  who  ha\e  worked  at  various  odd  jobs.  These  may  be  classed 
as  "unskilled".  To  study  these  girls,  to  go  back  into  their  history, 
to  forecast  their  future,  is  to  grow  discouraged  and  disheartened. 
One  can  only  conclude,  '"This  is  our  problem,  an  apparently  unsolvable 
one,  but  let  us  do  our  best  with  it  atid  for  them." 

These  girls  have,  for  the  most  part,  no  helpful  background  which 
encourages  a  placement  agent.  They  come  from  homes  presided  over 
largely  by  mothers  often  prepared  badly  for  motherhood.  Many  of 
these  mothers,  during  the  years  preceding  marriage,  have  been 
in  the  factories  or  in  domestic  service,  and,  strange  to  say, 
domestic  service  does  not  seem  to  qualify  a  woman  for  keeping  a 
good  type  of  home  after  marriage;  while  those  who  work  in  factories 
have  little  time  or  inclination  to  learn  how  to  manage  a  home  properly. 
The  result  is,  the  girls  come  to  us  from  untidy,  ill-kept  homes  and 
from  careless  mothers  whose  slovenliness  is  too  often  reflected  in 
the  appearance  of  their  daughters.  Many  of  the  girls  wear  shoddy 
finery  and  not  a  few  add  to  their  unkempt  appearance  by  paint  and 
powder.  We  have,  too,  the  children  of  immigrants  who,  in  their 
knowledge  of  the  ways  of  the  new  world,  take  advantage  of  their 
parents'  ignorance.  Then  again  the  mothers  seem  to  have  little  or  no 
control  over  their  daughters  and  often  say,  "See  if  you  can  do  some- 
thing with  her,  she  won't  do  as  I  tell  her."  As  to  education,  many  of 
these  girls  at  fourteen  have  reached  5R  only — one  wonders  where  is 
the  defect  in  our  school  system — or  worse  yet,  5B  Special,  that  class 
into  which  children  are  pushed  and  out  of  which  they  are  rushed  to 
the  Board  of  Health  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  satisfy  the  meagre 
requirements  of  the  Child  Labor  Law  and  get  themselves  the  much- 
coveted  working  papers.     The  placing  of  these  girls  is  a  part  of  our 


PLACEMENT  3 

problem.  Of  the  placing  of  the  older  girls  I  shall  speak  later.  Let 
us  now  consider  the  girl  of  fourteen  coming  to  us  from  such  influences 
and  environments  as  I  have  briefly  described.  What  shall  we  do 
with  her? 

First  of  all,  one  tries  to  find  out  what  the  girl  herself  would  like 
to  do,  or  what  her  mother  would  like  to  have  her  undertake.  The 
reply  to  our  query  is  usually,  "Anything" ;  sometimes,  "Anything  but 
sev/ing."  If  a  girl  has  graduated,  somewhere  she  has  acquired  the 
notion  that  she  is  well  educated  and  must  go  into  an  office.  Her  mother 
is  prejudiced  against  factories.  Otten  the  teacher  of  the  graduating 
class  has  said,  "Now  that  you  girls  are  graduated,  you  must  none  of 
you  go  into  a  factory,"  with  an  unkind  emphasis  upon  the  word.  (Per- 
haps the  teacher  herself  has  never  been  inside  a  factory,  but  no  matter.) 
Vve  try  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  mother  and  girl  of  their  prejudice 
against  factories.  We  tell  them  how  much  factory  conditions  have 
improved  and  explain  our  system  of  factory  visiting.  Sometimes  our 
efforts  are  successful ;  if  not,  we  can  only  say  quietly,  but  firmly,  "We 
are  sorry  that  we  cannot  place  you,  but  we  have  decided  that  in  our 
judgment  an  office  is  not  the  best  place  for  so  young  a  girl.  We  cannot 
get  even  fair  wages  for  you  and  we  do  not  consider  the  conditions  as 
favorable  as  in  the  best  factories."  To  return  to  the  girl  who  is  now 
ready  to  do  "anything",  but  who  has  had  no  advice  and  no  training 
which  fits  her  for  anything  in  particular.  Having  questioned  her  and 
found  out  her  school  history,  etc.,  for  the  sake  of  our  records  and 
possible  future  statistics,  having  seen  her  working  papers  and  tried  to 
find  out  if  she  really  is  inclined  towards  any  special  work,  we  are 
ready  to  place  her.  Right  here  we  run  up  against  the  provision  of  the 
Child  Labor  Law  in  force  since  October,  1907.  Did  so  good  a  law  ever 
before  have  such  disastrous  results?  Like  most  persons  interested  in 
the  welfare  01  the  children  I  was  overjoyed  when  this  law  went  into 
effect,  so  that  I  can  scarcely  be  called  an  unkind  critic  when  I  say 
that  its  workings  have  often  made  me  unhappy.  You  see,  I  am  a 
placement  agent.  By  the  terms  of  this  law  a  girl  from  fourteen  to 
sixteen  may  work  in  a  factory  eight  hours  a  day,  between  the  hours 
of  8  and  5,  and  must  have  one  hour  for  luncheon  (8  130  to  5,  or  8  to 
4:30,  one-half  hour),  but  in  most  factories  girls  work  from  8  to  5  :30 
or  5  45  and  have  one-half  hour  or  three-quarter  hour  for  luncheon. 
As  employers  in  many  factories  where  good  conditions  prevail  object 
to  having  two  sets  of  hours,  they  refuse  to  take  these  girls  under 
sixteen,  so  that  often  a  girl  must  take  what  she  can  get  until  she  is 
old  enough  to  work  full  time.  In  this  way  she  loses  two  valuable  years 
and  runs  the  risk  of  becoming  a  "floater"  if  she  fails  to  secure  a  steady 


4  PLACEMENT 

job.  We  find,  therefore,  that  in  many  cases  where  a  girl  goes  to  work 
ut  fourteen  we  must  indeed  place  her  at  "anything",  hoping  that  she 
will  keep  coming  back  to  us  until  she  is  sixteen  when  we  can  get  her 
started  at  some  trade.  If,  however,  the  girl  had  some  manual  training 
up  to  the  age  of  fourteen  and  spent  the  next  two  years  in  a  trade 
Gchool,  -.o  that  at  sixteen  she  would  be  able  to  enter  some  definite  trade, 
I  am  satisfied  that  we  should  have  no  difficulty  in  placing  her.  This 
would  mean  of  course  compulsory  education  up  to  the  age  of  sixteen, 
but  I  am  sure  that  every  one  really  concerned  for  the  girl's  present  and 
futvire  welfare  would  welcome  that. 

The  problem  of  profitably  placing  the  older  girl  who  has  developed 
from  such  a  one  as  I  have  described  is  even  worse.  She  leaves  school 
at  fourteen,  takes  place  after  place,  doing  tasks  that  are  seasonal  or 
monotonous  or  both,  and  hears  of  the  Bureau  when  she  is  eighteen  or 
nineteen.  Her  trade  history  is  discouraging.  For  instance,  read  the 
records  in  the  table  on  the  opposite  page. 

It  is  too  late  for  a  girl  with  a  trade  history  similar  to  those  given 
above  to  accept  the  lower  wages  paid  to  learners,  and  in  many  cases 
the  best  that  we  can  do  for  her  is  to  continue  to  furnish  her  with  the 
odd  jobs  to  which  she  has  become  accustomed,  to  have  patience  with 
her  when  she  "walks  out,"  sometimes  in  the  middle  of  a  tiresome  day; 
to  assume  that  in  her  case  it  is  "too  late  to  mend"  and  that  S7  a  week  is 
a  high  wage,  the  maximum  indeed  for  what  she  has  to  offer. 

We  seek  to  establish  personal  relations  with  our  girls  and,  as  many 
cf  them  are  sent  to  us  by  the  workers  in  the  various  charitable  organi- 
sations and  by  social  workers,  to  secure  the  close  co-operation,  in  each 
case,  of  the  individual  to  whom  the  girl  and  family  are  known.  Only 
recently  a  forlorn  little  girl,  sent  to  us  by  a  worker  for  a  charitable 
society,  was  accused  of  pilfering  from  her  employer.  She  had  come  to 
us  hatless  and  untidy,  and  we  had  asked  her  to  come  back  wearing  her 
hat  and  showing  us  how  neat  she  could  be.  We  then  sent  her  to  a  firm 
well  known  to  us  where  she  could  begin  as  errand  girl  and  finally  be- 
come a  machine  operator.  She  predisposed  her  employer  against  her  by 
telling  an  untruth  about  her  age,  so  that  when  he  began  to  miss  ribbons, 
etc.,  he  thought  of  her  as  the  guilty  one.  All  evidence  pointed  to  her, 
and,  after  talking  with  her  and  getting  only  a  denial,  he  called  us  up 
and  said  that  he  was  going  to  let  her  go.  We  persuaded  him  instead 
to  let  us  send  to  see  him  the  woman  who  had  sent  the  child  to  us  and 
who  could  tell  him  a  great  deal  about  the  child's  environment ;  about 
the  lazy,  shiftless  mother  and  worthless  father;  could  explain  to  him 
that  the  child  had  never  had  a  chance,  and  make  him  see  that  here  was 
his  opportunity.    The  woman  went,  but  it  finally  seemed  best  not  to  let 


PLACEMENT 


Name 

A. 


B. 


C. 


D. 


TABLE 

Time 
Age  Occupation  Yrs.  Mos.  \V 

13  a.  Trimming       handker- 

chiefs     V2 

b.  Labelling    &    packing 
candy    i 

c.  Stock  girl  8 

17     d.  Stock  girl 2 

14  a.  Artificial   flowers  ....  2  (seasons) 

b.  Cutting  out  applique.,      i 

c.  Learner  millinery.  ...      i 

d.  Had     own     business, 
failed    i 

e.  Copyist,    millinery   .  .  .  V2 

f .  Saleswoman    3 

20     g.  Saleswoman  7 

a.  Cash  girl   i 

b.  Apprentice,   dress....  i-, 2    seasons 

c.  Sheet  writer 8 

d.  Examiner   i     6 

e.  Stock  girl    i 

f.  Stock  girl   6 

g.  Housework    3^2 

h.  Factory  work    ? 

a.  At  Pencils    2 

b.  Packing  candy 4 

c.  Packing  stationer}-  ...      6 

a.  Nursemaid    2 

b.  Nursemaid    2 

c.  Switchboard  and  warfl 
maid    in   hospital.  ,  .  . 

d.  Clerical    work    3  days 

e.  Factory   work    71^ 

f.  Cleaning  oil  brushes.  .  V2  day 

g.  Painting  3  days 

h.  Factory  work 4^,4 

i.  Factory   work    5  days 

j.  Factory  work    5  days 

k.   Factory   work    7  weeks 

1.  Pasting   2  months 

m.  Filling  bottles    ¥2  month 

20.     n.  Factory  work   3  days 


28 
14 

23 

1.5 


ages  per 

week 

$3-50 

3-00-3 

•50 

+50 

5-50-7 

-50 

1. 00 

3 -00-5 

.00 

5.00-9 

.00 

6.00 

4-50 

8.00 

2.00-3.50 

2.50-3-50 

6.25 

4.10-5, 

.70 

6.00 

6.00 

5-00 

6.00 

3-50-4 

.00 

4-50 

2.00-6 

.OO 

7.00  ; 

a  mo. 

1. 00 

12.00  ; 

a  mo. 

1. 00  i 

a  day 

5.00 

5.00 

5-00 

5.00 

5.00 

5.00 

6.00 

6.00 

5.00 

;.oo 

6  PLACEMENT 

the  girl  remain  as  the  other  girls  knew  of  her  wrong  doing.  A  place 
has  since  been  found  for  her  where  she  is  doing  well.  After  all,  one 
can  hardly  blame  these  children  if  they  are  led  into  temptation,  espe- 
cially when,  as  in  this  case,  the  mother  is  a  weak,  shiftless  creature. 

A  girl  whom  we  had  known  for  a  long  time  (the  E.  of  the  above 
Schedule)  and  who  has  held  fourteen  jobs  in  five  years  came  in  the 
other  day.  She  wore  a  red  satin  hat  and  an  extremely  low-necked 
waist.  Cheap  pendant  ear-rings  and  much  paint  and  powder  combined 
with  her  bright  yellow  hair  to  make  one  who  did  not  know  her  think 
that  she  belonged  to  "the  other  kind"  of  girls.  We  talked  to  her 
seriously  about  her  appearance,  made  her  wash  off  the  cosmetics  and 
when  she  had  put  on  a  more  modest  shirtwaist  sent  her  to  an  employer. 
On  the  way  she  must  have  put  on  the  powder  again  for  the  employer 
called  us  up  to  say  that  he  could  not  have  a  girl  of  that  type  in  his 
workroom.  We  explained  the  situation,  but  he  said  that  her  looks  were 
f.gainst  her.  This  was  the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened  and 
re-enforced  our  little  lecture  beautifully.  We  sent  for  her  to  call,  and 
as  she  had  only  one  hat,  the  red  one,  we  lent  her  money  to  buy  some- 
thing more  suitable  and  are  placing  her  now,  a  much  subdued  young 
v.'oman,  who  has  perhaps  learned  her  lesson. 

I  have  surely  said  enough  to  show  the  hopelessness  of  placing 
satisfactorily  girls  who  come  to  the  working  age  without  previous 
training,  either  at  home  or  at  school,  and  without  manual  dexterity. 

It  is  not  only  the  unskilled  girl,  however,  who  is  difficult  to  place. 
Rarely  does  one  find  a  grammar  school  graduate  who  has  had  sufficient 
training  to  write  a  simple  business  letter  or  to  add  and  multiply  cor- 
rectly; yet  most  grammar  school  graduates  wish  office  work,  as  has 
been  said  before. 

We  recently  wished  a  stenographer  for  our  own  office.  Two  girls 
were  sent  for  by  the  same  mail.  One  was  waiting  for  us  when  the 
office  opened.  As  she  seemed  suitable  we  engaged  her.  About  10:30 
the  other  came  in  with  her  mother.  When  the  situation  was  explained 
the  mother  said:  "We  could  just  as  well  have  been  earlier,  but  v;c 
thought  we  would  let  you  get  your  morning's  work  out  of  the  way." 
Girls  all  along  the  line  need  better  training.  They  need  not  only  trade 
training,  but  training  in  the  ordinary  business  methods;  in  going  to 
places  promptly,  in  answering  letters  sent  them,  etc.  One  wonders  if  the 
schools  are  to  blame;  if  so,  is  it  the  teachers  or  the  system?  One  is 
inclined  to  think  that  it  is  both  after  reading  Professor  Edgar  J. 
Swift's  "Youth  and  the  Race,"  a  calm,  cool  statement  of  the  problem 
of  education  with  which  we  find  ourselves  as  placement  agents  in  agree- 
ment.    Of  course  the  human  material    given    into  the    hands  of  the 


PLACEMENT  7 

teachers  is  sometimes,  as  we  have  shown,  of  a  pretty  poor  sort,  but  it 
does  seem  as  if  more  might  often  be  made  of  it. 

A  word  as  to  our  special  methods.  We  visit  every  factory  before 
sending  a  girl  to  it  with  a  view  of  finding  out. 

First,  if  conditions  are  sanitary. 

Second,  if  labor  laws  are  obeyed. 

Third,  if  wages  are  up  to  the  standard. 

As  to  investigation  of  conditions  we  make  no  exceptions.  A  man 
may  be  very  plausible  and  pleasant;  he  may  be,  as  one  social  worker 
put  it,  when  saying  that  she  could  not  think  of  investigating  his  factory, 
"such  a  nice  man" ;  he  may  even  give  largely  to  philanthropic  societies. 
We  find  that  none  of  these  things  necessarily  prevent  his  putting  his 
workers  into  an  unsanitary  basement  or  on  an  equally  unsanitary 
mezzanine  floor,  8  or  lo  feet  from  the  ceiling.  The  only  way  to  know 
i.  conditions  are  sanitary  in  any  factory  is  to  visit  the  factory ;  the  only 
way  to  find  out  if  labor  laws  are  observed  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  get  the 
statement  of  the  employer  and  then  to  inquire  occasionally  of  the 
v/orkers;  while  eternal  vigilance  is  required  to  be  sure  that  wages  are 
kept  up  to  the  standard.  In  our  efforts  to  comply  with  the  Child  Labor 
Law  we  meet  frequently  such  a  situation  as  this :  W'e  placed  three 
girls  under  i6  in  a  millinery  house  with  the  understanding  that  they 
were  to  work  from  8  -.^o  to  5  and  have  one-half  hour  for  luncheon.  At 
the  end  of  the  season,  when  the  girls  were  laid  ofif,  we  found  that  they 
had  been  working  until  5  :30  and  at  times  6  P.  M.  We  wrote  the  em 
ployer  who  replied,  ''We  are  not  employing  any  girls  in  violation  of  the 
law."  This  was  true  as  all  had  been  laid  off.  On  our  telephoning 
the  employer  he  stated  that  he  had  not  understood  the  law.  We  quoted 
the  ancient  axiom  that  "ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  excuse,"  but  told  hi,n 
that  unfortunately  he  could  not  make  even  that  excuse,  valueless  as  it 
v/as,  because  we  had  explained  the  matter  to  him  w^hen  placing  the  girls. 
and  we  suggested  that  we  take  the  matter  up  with  the  Labor  Depart- 
ment to  clear  ourselves.  He  assured  us  that  the  "mistake"  would  not 
be  made  again.  It  is  so  hard  for  us  to  place  girls  under  16  and  the 
conditions  in  his  workroom  are  so  good  that  we  shall  probably  send 
him  workers  next  season,  but  shall  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  him. 

Along  with  our  daily  work  we  are  making  incjuiries  into  certain 
trades;  inquiries  not  scientific  enough  to  be  called  investigations,  ]>ut 
made  simply  with  a  view  to  seeing  if,  on  the  whole,  these  trades  are 
desirable  for  girls.  We  have  summarized  the  results  of  these  special 
inquiries  into  papers,  each  ending  with  a  recommendation  for  or  against 
the  trade  visited.  We  are  thus  getting  together  infirniation  concerning 
two  or  three  trades  each  vear,  besides  doing  our  regular  visiting  of 


8  PLACEMENT 

factories  whose  owners  apply  to  us  for  workers.  It  is  not  enough,  how- 
ever, to  decide  that  a  certain  trade  is  to  be  recommended.  We  must 
still  visit  each  new  workroom  in  the  trade  as  it  is  brought  to  our 
attention.  Thus  we  are  gradually  accumulating  records  of  hundreds, 
3'es,  thousands  of  workrooms  in  New  York  City.  These  records  are 
iilways  at  the  service  of  teachers,  social  workers,  etc.,  and  we  stand 
ready  to  visit  and  report  on  any  factor}'  on  request. 

Our  records  of  our  girls  are  equally  important.  We  get  facts 
concerning  their  school  work  and  their  trade  history.  From  the  latter 
we  often  get  a  clue  which  will  enable  us  to  place  even  an  unskilled 
worker  to  better  advantage.  We  add  to  these  records  notes  as  to  what 
happens  to  the  girl  while  under  our  care.  These  statistics  have  often 
been  used  confidentially  by  other  organizations  who  are  making  special 
investigations  into  conditions  among  working  girls. 

There  recently  appeared  in  one  of  the  daily  papers  an  article  in 
which  it  w^as  suggested  that  there  should  be  an  employment  agency 
connected  with  every  public  school.  There  seemed  to  us  to  be  a  fatal 
fiaw  in  this  plan.  The  person  who  would  place  children  must  feel  him- 
self responsible  for  the  places  to  which  he  sends  them ;  all  the  more  so, 
if  he  is  acting  officially  for  the  school  system.  How  can  he  place  them 
properly  unless  he  actually  sees  Avhere  they  are  to  work?  Would  em- 
ployers submit  to  an  invasion  of  placement  agents  from  all  the  schools 
in  New  York  City?  If  this  plan  is  ever  successfully  carried  out  it 
."^hould  be  by  means  of  a  central  bureau  with  information  as  to  work- 
rooms. This  information  should  be  easy  of  access  to  an  agent  from 
each  school,  who  would  know  the  children  with  whom  he  was  dealing. 
This  plan  seems  feasible,  and  I  for  one  would  welcome  it. 

Let  us  who  deal  with  children,  stop  laying  such  an  unfavorable 
emphasis  upon  the  word  factory.  Before  we  decide  against  the  factory 
let  us  know  more  about  it  than  did  one  mother  who  was  opposed  to 
paper-box  factories  because  she  once  knew  one  that  wasL  in  a  basement, 
or  than  one  district  superintendent  who  said  that  she  had  long  ago  de- 
cided against  paper-box  factories,  but  admitted  that  she  bad  never  been 
inside  one.  Her  interlocutor  had  just  finished  an  inquiry  into  the  trade 
by  visiting  60  factories,  in  the  majority  of  which  she  would  have  been 
ver}'-  glad  to  place  girls.  Before  we  decide  so  positive^  against  the  fac- 
tories and  advise  girls,  manifestly  fitted  by  environment,  training  and 
qualifications  for  no  other  work,  let  us  visit  some  of  the  better  grade 
factories  and  see  the  improved  conditions  under  which  the  girl  who 
starts  out  to-day  can  work  if  she  will.  If  such  investigation  is  impos- 
sible let  us  then  take  the  word  of  those  w-ho  have  made  a  specialty  of 
factorv  visiting  before  we  decide  against  putting  our  girls  at  trades. 


PLACEMENT  9 

The  work  of  placing  girls  in  factories  is  interesting,  but  often  dis- 
couraging. With  all  our  endeavors  we  can  do  so  little.  We  feel  the 
lack  of  any  real  education  shown  by  the  girls  who  come  to  us,  and  ws 
feel  still  more  our  own  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  where  it  is  best  to  place 
these  children.  While  our  knowledge  is  still  palpably  inadequate,  we 
do  feel  that  it  is  better  for  them  to  be  placed  by  an  investigating  super- 
vising agency  than  for  them  to  place  themselves  by  answering  adver- 
tisements or  by  aimlessly  strolling  along  the  streets  watching  for  the 
sign  "Girls  wanted". 


GETTING    IN    TOUCH    WITH    THE    EMPLOYER 

Eli  W.  Weaver 

Chairman  of  the  Students'  Aid   Committee  of  the   High   School   Teachers' 
Association.  New  York 

The  experiment  which  this  committee  began  some  years  ag:) 
related  to  several  problems  which  the  school  cannot  well  escape.  With 
no  funds,  no  machinery,  and  with  certain  insistent  demands  we  can 
hardly  be  blamed  if  our  proceedings  were  not  always  entirely  scientific. 
A  mother  who  must  get  breakfast  for  a  hungry  child  does  not  always 
have  time  to  make  a  scientific  test  of  the  food  values  of  the  material 
iU  hand.  It  is  true  that  we^have  made  some  investigations,  some  studies 
of  occupations,  some  study  of  the  vocational  significance  of  certain 
traditional  school  subjects,  and  the  bulletins  issued  by  the  committee 
have  been  widely  circulated,  \^'e  have  also  followed  up  certain  sub- 
jects who  came  under  our  care  and  made  studies  of  the  vocational 
histories  of  large  numbers  of  students  enrolled  in  the  evening  high 
schools.  The  activities  of  the  committee  which  seem  to  have  attracted 
most  attention  referred  to  the  placing  and  shifting  of  students  around 
in  employments  in  order  to  enable  them  to  work  out  vocational  pur- 
poses which  the  committee  had  helped  them  to  form. 

These  children  were  mostly  boys,  now  and  then  girls ;  some  in 
day  schools,  who  were  ready  to  leave  school  or  who  had  to  leave  school, 
others  in  the  evening  schools;  some  who  needed  work  after  school 
hours,  or  during  vacations  in  order  to  enable  them  to  lengthen  their 
school  life  and  others  who  had  outgrown  school  or  who  found  it  ad- 
\isable  to  leave  school  for  the  good  of  the  school. 

Now,  I  do  not  want  to  make  an  apology  for  trying  to  lielp  a  lad 
V'ho  needs  help,  even  though  I  have  not  had  the  time  to  make  of  him 
an  extended  vocational  analysis,  nor  the  means  to  make  an  extended 
survey  of  the  vocational  possibilities  of  this  complex  city.  I  console 
myself  with  the  belief  that  any  man  of  fairly  good  judgment  and  a 
more  or  less  extended  experience  in  making  a  living  can  be  helpful  to 


10  I'LACFMENT 

a  youngster  whose  limitations  he  has  learned  to  know  in  the  school 
room. 

At  the  outset  let  me  repeat  that  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the 
kindergarten  attitude  of  helping  an  infant  to  slide  down  the  hill  of  his 
own  inclinations  but  that  for  the  older  children,  I  believe  that  work 
lias  a  mission,  the  work  of  the  school  as  well  as  the  work  in  after  years. 
Our  worth  comes  more  largely  through  work  than  through  play, 
through  exertion  of  one  kind  as  well  as  through  exertion  of  another. 
Man  is  the  product  of  himself  and  of  his  education  wiiich  is  the  result 
of  the  reactions  of  the  environment  upon  himself;  his  environment  in 
the  school,  in  the  shop  or  in  the  office.  These  factors  create  the  man 
of  value  from  whom  we  get  products  of  value  and  the  service  of  value. 

Of  course,  to  make  a  man  of  great  value  w-e  want  the  right  kind 
of  a  man  as  well  as  the  right  kind  of  an  environment.  In  other  places 
you  will  discuss  the  selection  of  the  man  for  the  environment.  I  will 
speak  of  the  selection  of  the  environment  for  the  working  boy  or  girl. 
This  environment  is  made  largely  by  the  employer  and  of  it  the  enj- 
ployer  or  his  representative  is  the  chief  factor. 

It  might  be  w'ell  for  us  to  establish  some  tests  by  which  to  know 
the  employers  to  choose  and  the  others  to  avoid  and  the  reasons  for 
deciding  upon  these  tests.  My  alotment  of  time  will  not  permit  me 
to  go  into  this  matter.  I  can  simply  enumerate  that  I  want  an  employer 
who  believes  in  a  square  deal ;  w4io  is  ready  to  make  a  definite  con- 
tract and  respect  the  terms  of  it ;  who  is  willing  to  share  with  the  em- 
ploye the  risks  of  the  employment  and  the  risks  entailed  in  preparing 
for  usefulness  in  his  service ;  one  who  has  a  flexible  organization ;  one 
who  has  faith  in  youngsters  as  well  as  a  reasonable  toleration  for  their 
limitations ;  one  who  has  a  respect  for  a  boy's  religion  as  well  as  3 
respect  for  his  own. 

In  this  large  and,  generally  believed,  extremely  selfish  city,  there 
are  many  such  employers.  Employers  recognize  that  efficient  workers 
?re  the  profitable  workers  and  that  the  efficient  workers  result  from 
the  careful  selection  of  recruits  and  the  right  handling  of  recruits.  The 
industrial  engineer  is  thinking,  as  well  as  the  social  engineer,  and  some- 
times to  better  purpose.  From  this  fact  it  has  come  about  that,  as 
chairman  of  a  committee  Avhich  is  studying  this  problem.  I  have  been 
invited  to  address  various  groups  of  interested  people  on  these  subjects. 

In  speaking  and  mixing  with  these  groups  of  church  clubs  and 
employers'  associations,  I  have  made  some  friends  whom  I  have 
learned  to  appreciate.  I  have  to-day  a  request  for  a  general  office 
assistant  from  a  shoe  manufacturer  Avhom  I  met  in  this  wav  at  a  church 
club.    Later  he  invited  me  to  his  house  and  we  had  an  opportunitv  to 


PLACEMENT  11 

come  to  a  thorough  understanding.  He  learned  to  appreciate  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  schools,  I  learned  to  know  the  troubles  of  the  employer. 
■^.  small  part  of  the  young  men  whom  he  had  in  his  organization  could 
later  be  used  in  positions  which  would  insure  them  an  adequate  man's 
support. 

Could  a  young  man  working  a  few  years  with  him  and  studying  on 
the  outside  at  the  same  time  prepare  himself  so  that  later  he  could 
enter  as  his  own  employer  in  a  retail  shoe  business  with  reasonable 
prospects  of  success?  What  would  such  reasonable  success  mean? 
What  kind  of  a  young  man  could  succeed?  What  kind  of  equipment 
should  he  accumulate?  He  readily  saw  that  it  would  be  a  great  thing 
for  his  wholesale  business  to  find  in  the  outlying  sections  of  the  city 
retail  stores  managed  by  those  who  had  outgrown  his  service.  It  is 
safe  to  assume  that  I  learned  as  much  about  this  business  through  this 
conference  and  through  the  reports  of  the  boys  who  from  time  to  time 
went  with  the  firm  as  I  could  have  learned  from  the  census  statistics 
of  an  investigator. 

Another  call  came  from  a  man  whom  I  had  met  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Manufacturers'  Association.  He  wanted  a  bookkeeper  with  ex- 
perience in  a  wholesale  grocery.  I  sent  him  a  transcript  of  the  school 
records  and  the  vocational  records  of  several  likely  fellows.  He  picked 
out  a  chap  for  whom  employment  had  been  secured  at  the  time  of  his 
graduation  from  high  school  and  for  whom  a  course  had  been  planned 
leading  to  a  certified  public  accountant's  license.  He  had  about  ex- 
hausted the  training  possibilities  of  that  position  and  had  finished  his 
second  year  in  the  school  of  accounts.  The  young  man  was  surprised 
to  receive  an  offer  at  an  advance  of  three  dollars  a  week  from  an  em- 
ployer whom  he  had  neither  sought  nor  known.  The  engagement  was 
made,  he  was  given  time  enough  to  break  in  his  successor  in  his  old 
position  and  he  entered  upon  a  better  position  and  a  new  field  of 
experience.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  young  man  is  getting  an  experi- 
ence which  no  vocational  school  can  duplicate,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  is  developing  the  self  respect  which  comes  from  self  support.  Em- 
ployers know  that  such  fellows  can  render  them  better  service  than 
those  who  are  allowed  to  stagnate  in  the  routine  work  of  one  position. 

In  our  school  we  have  students  representing  all  classes.  Ihe  en- 
rollment cards  of  the  students  give  us  an  index  to  the  business  con- 
nections of  the  fathers.  I  had  a  young  man  who  had  made  an  excellent 
record  in  mathematics.  How  could  he  turn  his  attainments  to  profit 
to  himself  and  to  the  service  of  the  community?  His  attention  was 
directed  to  the  field  of  actuarial  science.  It  appealed  to  him.  It  was 
found   that   the   father  of   another   student   was   connected    with    the 


12  I'LACEMENT 

administrative  forces  of  an  insurance  company.  He  was  requested  to^ 
ask  his  father  whether  it  woukl  he  possihle  for  an  excellent  young  man 
to  enter  the  service.  /Vn  interview  resuUed,  an  engagement  was  made 
and  after  the  employer  had  a  chance  to  try  out  the  worker,  the  boy's 
ambitions  were  made  known  to  him,  with  the  result  that  the  employer's 
?pproval  and  encouragement  was  secured,  a  course  of  advanced  study 
was  mapped  out,  he  was  assisted  in  finding  the  needed  instruction, 
and  by  this  time  he  is  rapidly  forging  ahead  to  man's  estate. 

A  young  man  who  had  been  assisted  to  a  position  in  the  office  of 
a  dealer  in  contractors'  and  builders'  supplies,  has  become  a  most  effi- 
cient and  helpful  look-out.  As  a  side  line  he  is  ever  ready  to  find 
ilraughtsmen  for  his  customers  and  these  he  has  selected  for  him  by 
his  former  teachers. 

A  vocational  canvas  of  any  body  of  evening  school  students,  which 
shows  the  initial  educational  equipment  of  workers,  reveals  through 
their  school  records  their  characters,  shows  in  their  vocational  his- 
tories, their  development  furnishes  an  excellent  index  to  employers  of 
the  right  kind  and  of  the  other  kind.  A  boy  comes  along  whose  main 
interests  lie  in  the  laboratory.  We  take  a  list  of  houses  in  the  lines 
of  industrial  chemistry,  send  them  a  letter  with  some  advertising  mat- 
ter in  order  to  get  into  personal  touch  v/ith  them  for  the  benefit  of 
cur  protege.  We  go  with  the  first  candidate  for  an  interview,  show  an 
anxiety  to  know  their  particular  requirements,  the  same  eager- 
ness to  serve  them  which  is  shown  by  a  drummer  for  any  other 
manufacturer  and  are  sure  to  find  them  pleased  and  ready  to  co- 
operate. 

Of  course,  by  good  service  alone  can  a  customer  be  retained  who 
is  worth  holding.  Many  of  the  fellows  who  seek  employment  and 
must  have  work,  cannot  be  endorsed.  All  that  can  be  done  for  such, 
is  to  help  them  make  the  best  presentation  of  themselves  in  letters 
of  application  or  otherwise  and  to  direct  them  to  persons  who  are 
likel}-  to  be  able  to  use  them  and  to  give  them  a  promise  that  as  soon 
as  they  measure  up  to  the  preferred  standard  for  employment,  more 
effective  help  will  be  extended  to  them. 

This  is  educational  work;  less  expensive  than  vocational  schools; 
more  effective,  permitting  readjustments  as  the  workers  develop;  and 
less  likely  to  crowd  some  lines  of  work  to  the  detriment  of  others. 

You  will  be  told  that  this  is  not  scientific;  that  the  scientific  way 
is  to  take  a  candidate  for  work,  submit  his  case  to  a  previously  trained 
and  organized  force  of  experts  for  a  vocational  analysis.  Should 
this  determine  that  the  candidate  is  cut  out  to  be,  say  a  fisherman,  he 
is  to  be  referred  to  a  vocational  library  until  a  proper  survey  of  the 


^  PLACEMENT  13 

held  of  fishing  can  be  made  for  him.  Having  determined  that  the  best 
of  the  occupation  Hes  in  the  Hne  o'f  fishing  for  whales,  he  is  to  be  told 
to  wait  until  the  oceans  can  be  charted  and  the  schools  of  whales 
located  and  a  proper  investigation  can  be  made  to  determine  the  best 
equipment  for  successfully  pursuing  that  calling,  and'  a  tax  can  be 
levied  and  collected  to  purchase  an  adequate  equipment.  This  is  ex- 
cellent but  it  is  more  likely  that  in  the  process  a  number  of  potential 
small  fishermen  would  perish  of  neglect  and  other  struggling  actual 
fishermen  would  be. obliged  to  sell  their  small  fishing  smacks  to  pay 
the  taxes  with  which  to  purchase  the  ideal  outfit. 

This  is  not  an  extreme  case.  The  promising  daughter  of  hard 
working  parents  who  through  self-sacrifice  were  enabled  to  pay  their 
part  of  the  taxes  for  building  a  palatial  high  school  and  to  earn  the 
support  of  the  child  while  attending  this  school  in  which  it  was  con- 
sidered a  commendable  ambition  in  a  girl  to  aspire  to  preside  at  pink 
leas  given  to  her  associates,  even  though  her  mother  at  the  same  time 
was  doing  the  washing  for  the  girl,  came  home  from  graduation  with 
the  message  that  her  mentor  had  decided  that  as  she  wished  to  prepare 
for  teaching,  it  must  be  that  she  should  prepare  for  high  school  teach- 
ing and  therefore  go  to  college  instead  of  the  training  school,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  parents  must  enter  upon  another  four  years  of  effort, 
and  the  brothers,  who  can  get  along  somehow,  must  forego  their  ad- 
vanced training  and  seek  employment.  The  vocational  guide  of  the 
gi  i  was  entirely  competent  within  this  sphere,  and  the  most  expensive 
and  properly  approved  vocational  school  was  accessible.  The  girl 
entered  upon  the  course  of  preparation  to  find  upon  graduation  that 
ihe  very  authority  which  had  approved  the  courses  of  instruction,  re- 
]'i  diated  the  product  of  the  school  and  would  have  none  of  it  and  as 
the  courses  were  planned  for  local  needs,  a  bitter  disappointment  was 
at  hand.  The  case  came  to  this  committee.  It  was  considered  expedi- 
ent that  something  should  be  done.  For  a  week  the  advertising  mat- 
ter of  the  committee  was  mailed  to  the  new  corporations  which  were 
listed  in  certain  trade  journals.  Several  openings  were  found,  an  inter- 
view was  had  in  regard  to  a  promising  one.  an  engagement  was  made, 
oud  the  young  lady  is  now  a  statistician  to  a  manufacturer.  She  is 
interested,  and  incidentally  the  committee  has  learned  of  a  new  business 
need  and  of  a  very  i)romising  field  for  an  educated  woman.  The  young 
lady  is  getting  the  experience  wliich  will  ]">repare  her  for  teaching  and 
training  others  for  this  new  field. 

This  suggests  the  comment  that  no  one  has  the  moral  right  to 
make  vocational  prescriptions  beyond  the  extent  to  which  there  is  a 
reasonable   probability  of   having  the   prescriptions   filled,    any   more 


14  PLACEMENT 

than  one  has  a  right  to  recommend  the  investment  of  funds  in  secur- 
ities of  unknown  vakie.  It  must  also  be  born  in  mind  that  any  attempt 
to  influence  high  school  children  in  masses  and  classes  is  likely  to  be 
attended  with  the  grave  danger  of  antagonizing  the  plans  of  many 
parents  who  are  competent  to  handle  this  problem  and  who  must  bear 
tl:e  burden  of  the  failure  of  their  children. 

As  long  as  the  public  authorities  are  not  able  to  find  adequate  ac- 
ccmmodations  for  all  the  school  children  it  is  preposterous  for  them 
to  undertake  to  find  vocational  opportunities  for  all  the  adults  prop- 
erly made  to  the  measure  of  each  one.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  main- 
tain a  sort  of  a  vocational  experiment  station  through  which  the  experi- 
ci/ces  of  some  may  be  made  known  to  the  many. 


PLACING     THE     UNTRAINED     CHILD 

Anne  S.  Davis 
Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy 

A  year  and  a  half  ago  there  was  started  in  Chicago  under  the 
direction  of  the  Research  Department  of  the  Chicago  School  of  Civics 
and  Philanthropy,  an  investigation  into  the  industries  open  to  boys  and 
girls  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  who  were  leaving  school 
to  go  to  work.  Along  with  this  investigation,  we  undertook  to  estab- 
lish a  sort  of  an  employment  bureau — the  Bureau  of  Employment 
Supervision  for  Boys  and  Girls  it  is  called — and  to  place  some  of 
these  children  who  were  leaving  school  at  sucli  an  early  age  in  desirable 
positions.  We  were  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  placing  the  un- 
trained child  who  is  to  become  the  wage  earner  of  to-morrow. 

We  have  a  law  in  Illinois  not  permitting  a  child  to  work — except 
under  very  limited  circumstances — under  fourteen  years  of  age ;  a  child 
must  be  in  school  or  at  work  until  he  is  sixteen,  but  we  have  no  means 
of  enforcing  that  part  of  the  law  for  the  child  between  the  ages  of  four- 
teen and  sixteen  under  the  present  parental  school  plan.  The  Parental 
School  cannot  legally  admit  any  boy  after  he  has  reached  the  age  of 
fourteen.  We  have  no  educational  test  for  the  children  who  are 
allowed  to  go  to  work  when  they  reach  fourteen  except  that  they 
must  be  able  to  read  and  write  simple  sentences.  When  the  child  leaves 
school  at  the  age  of  fourteen  the  school  assumes  no  further  responsi- 
bility to  the  child. 

It  is  reported  that  in  Chicago  during  one  year  7,978  boys  and  4,560 
girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age  were  granted  working  certificates ; 
of  these  children  8,985  were  only  fourteen  years  of  age  and  1,557  ^^^^ 
not  reached  the  fifth  grade. 


PLACEMENT  15 

What  becomes  of  this  vast  army  of  children F 

The  large  majority  are  going  into  so-called  blind  alle}-  occupation.-, 
and  into  demoralizing  street  trades — into  factories  which  profit  by 
child  labor  but  have  no  responsibility  to  the  child  beside  the  weekly 
wage.  According  to  the  interviews  we  have  had  with  the  children  who 
have  worked  the  two  years  between  fourteen  and  sixteen — undoubtedly 
the  average  boy  or  girl  works  just  one-half  the  time  during  his  first 
Iwo  years  out  of  school.  The  rest  of  the  time  he  is  on  the  streets 
looking  for  work.  His  average  wage  is  not  over  two  dollars  a  week, 
v'ery  few  are  wanted  in  the  skilled  industries  to  learn  a  trade  until 
they  are  sixteen  or  eighteen.  The  state  law  prohibits  more  than  twenty 
occupations  to  these  children  and  limits  their  working  day  to  eight 
Lours,  and  for  this  reason  many  firms  will  not  employ  them. 

JVhat  has  Chicago  done  in  the  zvay  of  training  her  children  for  the 
industrial  ivorldf 

There  are  no  continuation  schools  or  trade  schools.  There  arc 
three  technical  high  schools  for  boys  and  one  technical  high  school  for 
girls.  In  each  of  these  schools  there  is  an  elementary  vocational  class 
which  admits  boys  and  girls  from  the  5th,  6th  and  7th  grade.  Pre- 
vocational  work  has  lately  been  introduced  into  four  of  the  elementary 
schools;  though  this  work  has  little  of  a  distinctly  vocational  character, 
there  is  a  good  beginning.  At  present  the  children  who  leave  school 
at  fourteen  years  are  practically  untrained  for  any  kind  of  work.  Thcv 
have  little  skill  to  offer  the  employer. 

Jlliat  then  is  the  outlook  for  the  child  icho  leaz'es  school  at  four- 
teen f 

I  think  it  may  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  a  mother,  who  said : 
"We  hoped  to  be  able  to  give  our  children  a  good  education 
here.  It  was  partly  for  this  reason  that  we  came  here  from  Sweden  ; 
had  no  future  for  our  children  there,  we  had  no  means  of  sending 
them  Ijack  to  school.  In  this  country  we  hoped  to  send  them  on  to 
school  and  equip  them  for  the  struggle  for  existence  better  than 
we  have  been  equipped.  But  my  husband  has  worked  himself  out ; 
he  worked  only  live  years  in  a  clothing  factory,  but  he  broke  down 
and  so  he  had  to  change  jobs.  He  secured  a  position  as  janitor. 
When  he  is  not  in  the  best  of  health  I  take  his  place,  and  so  wc, 
get  along.  Aluch  against  our  will  our  oldest  bov,  who  is  gradu- 
ating from  grammar  school,  will  have  to  go  to  work  instead  of 
going  on  to  high  school.  And  it  seems  worse  when  you  know  that 
you  yourself  had  a  better  chance  a  generation  ago  in  a  remote 
province  in  the  old  world  than  your  son  is  getting  to-day  in  one 
of  the  richest  cities  in  the  New  World.    If  we  could  at  least  give 


16  PLACEMENT 

him  a  good  trade  or  start  him  at  something  which  would  eventually 
become  his  life  work,  so  that  he  might  get  a  good  start  in  that 
way ;  but  this  is  even  harder  than  giving  him  an  education.  In  the 
Old  World  you  could  take  a  boy  and  hire  him  out  as  an  appren- 
tice to  some  mechanic,  or  as  a  clerk  in  some  business,  and  you  could 
pretty  near  foretell  what  your  son's  future  would  be.  Here,  he 
will  get  a  job  answering  a  telephone  or  carrying  bundles,  or  de- 
livering messages,  and  if  he  has  not  become  demoralized  in  a 
couple  of  years  he  may  drift  into  a  shop  where  he  will  make  the 
hundredth  part  of  a  brass  bed  or  the  thousandth  part  of  a  sky- 
scraper building,  and  then  when  he  is  twenty,  he  will  find  him- 
self a  'Jack  of  all  Trades'  and  a  master  of  none. 

JVIiat  have  zve  been  able  or  attempted  to  do  with  these  children 
under  such  seemingly  hopeless  conditions? 

First  of  all  we  try  to  send  the  child  back  to  school.  Last  year 
iie^.rly  eight  per  cent,  of  the  children  who  came  to  us  were  returned  to 
school.  If  they  cannot  return  to  school,  we  place  them  in  the  best  posi- 
tions open  to  them,  keeping  those  boys  and  girls,  who  without  our  aid 
drift  into  box  factories  and  low-grade  candy  factories  and  into  mes- 
senger service,  out  of  these  unskilled  and  demoralizing  occupations-  - 
those  boys  and  girls,  I  mean,  who  are  capable  of  better  efforts  and 
better  results. 

In  an  investigation  of  some  forty  industries  and  of  from  2,000 
to  3,000  shops  and  factories  we  have  discovered  few  positions  of  any 
educational  value  open  to  children  under  sixteen.  Skilled  work  is  very 
limited  for  the  child  between  fourteen  and  sixteen,  and  there  is 
little  hope  of  his  making  much  progress  until  he  is  sixteen. 
All  of  the  1,400  children  w^ho  came  to  us  last  year  did  not  come  to  us 
directly  from  school;  many  of  them — the  majority — had  already  had 
several  jobs,  and  had  become  sufficiently  demoralized  to  make  it 
impossible  to  keep  them  in  permanent  work.  We  found  this  especially 
true  of  the  sixteen-year-old  boy  who  had  worked  since  they  were  four- 
teen years  old,  and  whom  we  have  placed  in  trades.  Many  of  the  boys 
have  worked  as  messengers,  and  frequently  employers  have  refused  to 
take  them  because  they  had  gotten  into  casual  habits.  I  have  heard  the 
criticism  that  placement  is  demoralizing  to  the  child — it  makes  him  de- 
pendent and  takes  away  his  initiative.  It  is  altogether  too  great  a  risk  to 
take  the  responsibility  of  placing  a  boy  or  girl.  It  seems  to  me  a  greater 
risk  to  send  a  child  of  fourteen  to  find  his  own  job.  The  children  who 
have  come  to  us  who  have  previously  worked  have  found  their  own 
lobs  in  a  haphazard  sort  of  a  way.  They  have  seen  the  sign 
"BOY    WANTED"    and    '-GIRL    WANTED"    and  have  taken  the 


PLACEMENT  17 

first  job  without  any  thought  of  their  fitness  for  it  or  interest  in  it, 
or  of  whether  it  offered  permanency  or  was  only  temporary. 

When  we  place  a  boy  or  girl  we  feel  that  we  are  doing 
much  more  for  him  than  he  can  do  for  himself.  He  may  have  to  be 
shifted  from  one  position  to  another  until  we  can  find  what  his  interests 
and  abilities  are  and  for  what  trade  or  work  he  is  best  fitted,  but  he 
is  always  kept  employed  where  the  working  conditions  are  good.  We 
urge  these  children  to  attend  classes  in  the  evening  schools  and 
settlements,  in  sewing,  printing,  woodworking,  etc.  We  have  placed 
several  boys  in  the  evening  class  at  the  Art  Institute.  Some  are  plan- 
ning to  be  commercial  engravers  and  though  they  cannot  become  up- 
prenticed  to  the  trade  until  sixteen,  we  have  placed  them  in  engraving 
shops,  where,  to  be  sure,  they  are  not  learning  much  except  by  obser\  a 
tion  but  they  are  in  the  atmosphere  of  their  trade  and  as  near  to  it  as 
they  can  get  until  they  are  sixteen. 

We  have  placed  a  number  of  boys  between  fourteen  and  sixteen 
who  want  to  be  machinists  in  the  office  of  a  large  machine  plant,  where 
they  are  employed  as  office  and  errand  boys.  Several  are  now  appren- 
tices.  We  placed  last  year  over  lOO  boys  as  apprentices  in  trades  as 
they  reached  their  sixteenth  birthday. 

All  children  we  place  at  a  minimum  wage  of  $4.  A  number  of 
employers  who  at  first  offered  a  wage  of  $3  or  $3.50  later  said  they 
v'ould  be  willing  to  pay  $4  or  $5  to  get  a  boy  from  us.  Employers  have 
said :  "How  soon  can  you  send  us  a  boy  ?  We  can  hang  a  sign  out 
?nd  have  twenty  boys  here  in  five  minutes  but  we  are  willing  to  wait  1 
few  days  to  get  one  from  you."  It  is  because  we  try  to  fit  the  right 
be  y  in  the  right  place.  If  an  employer  wants  a  boy  in  a  hurry,  we  tell 
him  he  had  better  look  elsewhere.  It  takes  time  to  get  the  right  boy. 
We  are  not  existing  to  accommodate  employers — but  they  are  often 
benefited  by  waiting. 

Undoubtedly  a  children's  placement  bureau  tends  to  better  the  con 
c'itions  of  the  working  child.  W^e  can  do  little  in  the  way  of  placing  a 
child  in  a  permanent  position  until  he  is  sixteen,  but  we  can  do  infin- 
itely more  for  him  in  giving  him  a  right  start  in  his  working  career, 
by  finding  him  more  wholesome  employment  that  will  not  ruin  his 
health  and  character,  than  he  can  find  for  himself. 

"As  a  result  of  a  recent  study  of  the  statistics  of  the  Juvenile  Court 
relating  to  delinquent  children,  it  appeared  that  the  great  majority  of 
I'Oys  who  were  brought  to  court  as  delinquents  were  boys  who  left 
.^chool  to  go  to  work  when  they  were  fourteen.  After  that  time  they 
were  often  out  of  work  as  well  as  out  of  school  and  were  given  special 
opportunities  to  become  delinquent.     More  than  half  of  all  the  delin- 


18  PLACEMENT 

quent  boys  came  in  at  the  age  of  fourteen  or  in  the  two  years  after 
ihev  leave  school.  Nearly  all  the  girls  committed  to  institutions  are 
^irls  who  were  not  attending  school.  It  would  seem  wiser  for  edu- 
cational authorities  to  help  these  children  get  the  right  kind  of  work 
rather  than  punish  them  for  being  idle."  * 

We  are  not  solving  the  problem  for  all  the  working  cinldren  in 
Chicago  by  placing  a  few  boys  and  girls  in  good  positions,  but  what  we 
liave  done  in  a  small  way  can  be  done  more  extensively.  A  placement 
bureau,  conducted  by  the  schools  to  expedite  the  employment  of  boys 
and  girls  as  soon  as  possible  after  they  secure  their  age  and  school 
certificates;  the  supervision  of  the  child  by  the  school  until  he  is 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  the  establishment  of  continuation  schools  for 
those  children  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  who  have  not  completed 
the  eighth  grade,  would  better  the  conditions  of  the  working  child 
r.nd  prevent  the  wastage  that  comes  from  a  child  of  fourteen  v.alking 
the  streets  and  from  his  haphazard  choice  of  a  job. 


THE   PLACEMENT   OF   AVERAGE   CHILDREN 

Bertha  M.  Stevens 

Director,    Co-operative    Employment    Bureau   for    Girls,    Cleveland 

The  bulk  of  this  paper  is  not  a  program — it  is  a  ciuestion  :  Have 
we  any  right  to  place  the  average  boy  or  girl  in  the  average  job? 

Through  the  perfection  of  organization  we  can  accomplish  a 
number  of  things: — We  can  connect  best  children  w^ith  best  places. 
We  can  hunt  out  special  places  for  specially  equipped  or  handi- 
capped children.  We  can  see  that  the  demands  for  workers  in 
recognized  trades  and  the  more  desirable  occupations  are  fully  met. 
We  can  even  eliminate  from  the  placement  list  certain  ones  who 
may  be  found  physically  or  mentally  imfit  or  who  may  have  the  way 
opened  for  further  education  or  occupational  training.  And  when 
all  this  is  done,  what  is  accomplished?  We  have  disposed  of  a 
minority  of  our  problem,  the  group  which  any  city  counts  by  hun- 
dreds; and  we  are  face  to  face  with  our  big  question — what  to  do 
Avith  the  average  children,  the  group  it  counts  by  thousands. 

Jobs  are  clamoring  for  these  children — imeducational,  monoton- 
ous, soul-stunting,  nerve-wearing,  futureless  jobs,  for  all  they  may 
be  in  sanitary,  law-abiding  shops,  controlled  b}'-  humane  and  even 
benevolent  firms.  Shall  we  give  the  children  to  these  jobs?  Shall 
we  violate  our  feeling  of  what  should  be  and  give  them  up,  knowing 

*  Finding  employment  for  children  wlio  leave  the  grade  schools  to  go  to 
work.     Published  bv  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy 


PLACEMENT  19 

if  we  do  not  they  will  give  themselves  up,  perhaps  faring  a  little 
worse  on  this  account?  Or,  can  we  earn  a  clear  conscience  by  put- 
ting a  fence  around  our  endeavor  saying  we  will  place  only  those 
whose  situation  we  can  distinctly  better  thereby? 

Industry  and  the  child  want  each  other,  but  for  different  ends 
and  with  conflicting  interests  at  stake.  Qualities  in  service  which 
mean  economic  gain  to  the  industry  too  often  mean  spiritual  and 
physical  loss  to  the  worker.  What  the  trend  of  industry  is,  another 
section  of  this  conference  may  show.  Some  hope  may  be  held  out 
that  some  day  the  conservation  of  the  worker  will  be  valued  as  much 
as  any  other  kind  of  conservation  concerned  in  production.  But,  for 
the  present,  we  have  to  take  industry  as  it  is.  We  have  to  admit  that 
good  jobs  do  not  exist  except  for  the  few.  We  cannot  fail  to  see  that 
machines  are  becoming  almost  human,  and  human  operatives  are 
practically  machines.  We  know  that  trade-training  will  help  a  little 
but,  for  girls  at  least,  cannot  come  anywhere  near  to  solving  the 
difficulty.  Apprenticeship,  so  far  as  it  concerns  industry  in  general, 
is  almost  an  anachronism.  Trade-training  of  any  sort  appears  to 
have  very  little  application  to  the  greater  part  of  industry. 

Can  a  placement  agency  which  has  for  its  slogan  "No  job  rather 
than  a  poor  job"  find  any  satisfaction  in  thinking  out  its  scheme  to  a 
logical  conclusion  ?  Does  anyone  really  believe  the  alternative  will 
be  "no  job"  for  children  who  have  to  work?  They  will,  of  course, 
find  work  for  themselves,  perhaps  traversing  the  city  with  the  "want 
ad"  column  or  a  low-grade  profit-making  employment  office  for  a 
pilot.  And  they  will  retain  the  idea  concerning  the  placement 
agency  that  it  is  only  one  of  several  possible  roads  to  employment 
instead  of  trusting  themselves  wholly  to  its  direction. 

To  go  through  a  factory  and  discover  at  some  stupid,  mechani- 
cal work  the  boy  or  girl  3'^ou  have  placed  there,  having  used  the 
expensive  machinery  of  your  placement  agency  to  accomplish  only 
this — what  could  be  more  discouraging?  And  yet,  even  in  this  for- 
lorn placement,  you  may  have  been  able  to  do  certain  things.  You 
may  have  considered  the  child's  fitness  on  broad  lines,  such  as: 
preference  for  in-door  or  out-door  work,  work  entirely  physical, 
work  combining  physical  and  mental  effort,  work  chiefly  mental, 
and  the  degree  of  effort  required.  You  may  have  discriminated  a 
poor  from  a  worse  occupation,  a  good  employer  from  an  undesirable 
one.  And,  most  important  of  all,  you  have  kept  a  hold  on  the  child 
which  may  lead  to  some  compensating  result  for  him  individuallv ; 
and  you  have  put  yourself  in  a  position  to  know  through  him  the 
most  intimate  facts  about  the  occupations  in  which  he  has  been, 
and  is  to  be,  employed. 


20  PLACEMENT 

What  are  the  worst  characteristics  of  the  average  job?  Are 
tliev  jx~>siti\e  dangers  and  other  distinctly  objectionable  features  or 
are  they  what  it  lacks?  What  do  the  occupations"  we  approve  in- 
volve? \'ariety  of  interest  and  effort;  chance  for  self-expression, 
initiative,  and  advancement;  and,  in  some  cases,  cultural  or  physical 
development.  If  the  average  job  lacks  these  qualities,  can  we  not 
consider  the  possibility  of  supplying  some  of  them  in  otlier  ways 
and  of  obtaining  time  for  their  exercise  by  limiting,  appreciably, 
through  legislation,  the  number  of  hours  per  day  which  average 
and  worse  jobs  may  claim?  The  compulsory  continuation  class, 
whether  giving  training  along  the  line  of  a  specific  occupation  or 
not,  could  certainly  afford  an  opportunity  for  making  up,  through 
educational  and  recreational  activities,  the  missing  essentials  for 
the  right  development  of  youth. 

If  the  idea  just  stated  may  be  accepted  as  one  means  of  making 
the  best  of  industry  as  it  is,  certainly  another  no  less  important  is  a 
centralized  and  comprehensive  scheme  of  placement  for  every  city. 
Such  organization  is  necessary  not  only  for  the  best  adjustment  of 
demand  and  supply  (seeing -to  it  that  best  places  are  exhausted  be- 
fore less  desirable  ones  receive  consideration)  and  for  avoidance  of 
duplication  in  investigation  and  the  machinery  of  placement,  but  it 
is  the  only  sure  means  of  looking  after  the  interests  of  average  chil- 
dren— W'ho  are  more  apt  than  any  other  class  to  get  left  out  of 
special,  partial  placement  schemes. 


SUMMARY 


Frank   V.   Thompson- 
Associate  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Boston 

It  seems  to  me  that  I  can  best  use  my  brief  time  in  suggest- 
ing the  immediate  results  of  this  movement,  as  far  as  a  spectator 
of  the  problem  can  see  it.  I  am  sorry  that  I  do  not  come 
here,  as  your  other  speakers  do,  with  my  hands  full  of  good  works. 
I  have  faith  in  this  movement,  but  I  lack  that  concomitant  of  faith, 
good  works.  Nevertheless,  as  an  observer  of  the  trend  of  the  times, 
I  think  I  can  see  where  this  whole  thing  is  to  come  out. 

First,  I  should  like  to  make  one  or  two  observations  upon  the 
remarks  that  we  have  heard.  In  a  general  way,  these  remarks  show 
the  initial  stage  at  which  we  find  the  problem.  Experimentally  here 
and  there  are  workers,  individual  teachers  and  social  workers;  each  i^ 
making  a  contribution.  Mr.  \\'eaver  spoke  deprecatingly  of  our  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  problem.     I  should  like  to  call  attention  to  the 


PLACEMENT  21 

lact  that  all  advance  is  begun  in  partial  blindness;  through  experi- 
ence we  gradually  find  our  bearings.  We  are  nnaking  the  necessary 
experiments,  and  wc  shall  reach  our  bearing  only  "through  our  experi- 
ments. 

However,  one  central  idea  coming  out  of  these  discussions  is 
the  fact  that  the  public  has  at  last  become  aware  of  such  a  thing  as 
human  waste  product.  In  connection  with  the  enthusiasm  for  the 
conservation  of  forests,  coal  and  natural  resources,  we  are  coming  to 
see  that  the  greatest,  most  valuable  product  is  the  human  product. 
Perhaps  the  proper  relations  of  human  and  natural  products'  waste  will 
be  more  clearly  seen.  Perhaps  industry  will  pause  in  the  policy  of 
human  exploitation.  Dean  Schneider  says  that  enervating  work  is 
increasing  and  that  energizing  work  is  decreasing.  This  may  prove  poor 
economy  in  the  end.  We  cannot  for  the  sake  of  making  a  few  extra 
dollars  consume  wastefully  our  coal  mines.  We  must  spend  our 
natural  treasures  more  economically.  The  same  thing  applies  to 
human  progress.  We  cannot  allow  such  a  prodigal  human  waste. 
So  when  Mr.  Weaver  speaks  for  the  improvement  in  the  environ- 
ment of  the  worker  it  seems  to  me  he  touches  a  fundamental  thought, 
a  thought  which  we  should  all  keep  continually  before  the  public. 

The  individual  instances  mentioned  by  Mrs.  O'Connell  of  pre- 
judice against  the  factory  is  a  familiar  one  to  us  in  Boston.  It  is 
strange  how  social  prejudice  warps  the  point  of  view  concerning 
employment  opportunities.  The  servant  girl  problem  is  one  instance 
of  the  working  of  an  acute  social  prejudice.  Our  young  girls  prefer 
to  go  out  and  work  under  poorer  conditions,  because  of  fancied  social 
advantages.  This  condition  is  one  of  the  prices  we  pay  for  democracy. 
The  social  prejudice  against  certain  kinds  of  work  i^  strong.  We 
must  educate  our  young  people  to  see  where  their  true,  economic  ad- 
vantages lie.  I  wish  we  could  know  where  the  greatest  amount  of 
exploitation  is,  whether  in  the  department  stores  or  whether  in  the 
factory.  I  was  amazed  recently  in  talking  to  some  of  the  employers 
of  the  big  department  stores  to  learn  their  figures  regarding  employes. 
To  "turn  over"  one  or  more  times  a  year  a  number  equalling  the 
whole  force,  sometimes  a  thousand  employes,  shows  what  a  waste- 
ful system  prevails.  Think  of  the  waste!  T  think  no  factory  figures 
will  .surpass  this  record.  Yet  public  attention  is  all  turned  to  the 
factory,  a^  if  all  the  evil  v.^ere  there.  Through  our  study  of  employ- 
ment conditions  we  shall  place  our  blame  more  justly. 

What  part  docs  placement  take  in  the  whole  plan?  Placing  is 
the  fruition,  in  a  way.  of  the  general  ])r()blcm  of  vocational  guidance. 
It  is  like  the  last  act  of  the  fortunate  drama  where  the  individual  finds 
his  hai)py   fate   and   lives  happily  ever  afterwards.       As   I    see   con- 


22  PLACEMENT 

ditions  in  Boston,  we  have  devoted  teachers  in  the  schools  who  are 
giving  much  attention  to  this  problem.  We  have  societies  for  social 
betterment  which  are  making  very  distinctive  achievements,  and  we 
have  a  definite  organized,  scientific  organization  in  our  Vocational 
Bureau,  for  which  we  are  very  appreciative;  here  we  find  a  group 
of  earnest  business  men  who  see  this  problem  in  its  large  relation. 
Under  the  very  able  work  of  Meyer  Bloomfield  we  are  formulating 
an  educational  programme  which  the  schools  can  adopt.  Our  specific 
\ocational  schools  are  actually  at  work  and  employ  what  we  call  voca- 
tional assistants,  who  are  really  placement  secretaries. 

The  real  difficulty  exists  in  that  period  between  fourteen  and  six- 
teen; here  the  problem  is  placing  untrained  persons  where  the  de- 
mand is  for  trained  workers.  I  wish  to  say  that  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  believe  in  immediately  raising  the  compulsory  age  to  six- 
teen. Why  not  wait  until  we  have  some  method  of  training  by  means 
of  which  these  pupils  who  leave  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  and  sixth  grades 
may  receive  vocational  training?  Why  oblige  boys  and  girls  to  stay 
two  years  longer  in  a  course  for  which  they  are  not  fitted?  Let  us 
make  our  sixteen-year-old  law  simultaneous  with  our  enlarged  school 
system  where  we  shall  give  appropriate  training,  industrial  training, 
vocational  training,  continuation  schools,  and  all  that  programme  which 
is  so  essential  for  an  extended  school  age.  A  simple  extension  of  the 
school  period  will  not  help  matters. 

With  the  programme  of  industrial  education  necessarily  comes 
vocational  guidance  and  all  in  its  train.  It  is  as  essential  to  the 
industrial  programme  as  the  compass  is  to  the  ship.  We  cannot  start 
this  industrial  educational  programme  and  not  know  where  we  are 
going.  Not  only  does  the  individual  pupil  need  guidance,  but  voca- 
tional education  needs  guidance.  A  complete  programme  under  public 
school  operation  will  alone  put  the  problem  on  an  adequate  basis. 

We  in  Boston  are  about  ready  to  adopt  a  full  programme;  we 
shall  extend  our  present  work  and  borrow  ideas  from  the  Vocational 
Bureau.  We  shall  extend  the  work  until  each  school  which  now  has 
a  vocational  counsellor  shall  widely  expand  its  efforts  in  this  regard. 
A  central  department  of  control  will  probably  be  organized. 

It  seems  to  me  that  something  similar  will  come  into  every  city. 
In  this  country,  I  think,  we  have  no  instance  of  a  completed  pro- 
gram. We  are  still  in  this  experimental  stage  which  is  so  valuable 
^s  a  preliminary  step.  It  would  be  very  unwise  for  any  city  to 
attempt  to  adopt  precipitously  a  finished  scheme.  We  must  go  through 
this  experimental  stage  before  we  arrive  at  the  proper  mental  state 
to  adopt  an  adequate  and  final  scheme.  If  you  are  interested  you 
can  easily  get  the  bulletin  from  the  City  of  Edinburgh  showing  what 


PLACEMENT  23 

.!:  being  done.  Edingurgh,  Scotland,  has  evidently  gone  through  the 
preliminaries  and  has  adopted  a  finished  scheme.  Their  report  is 
uluminating.  As  far  back  as  1907  the  school  committee  of  Edinburgh 
took  up  this  problem  of  fortuitous  choice  of  vocations,  and  organ- 
ized a  Bureau  for  information  and  employment.  In  1908  the  Board 
of  Trade  organized  a  similar  project.  In  the  following  year  the  two 
bodies  came  together,  and  organized  a  joint  Vocational  Guidance  and 
Placement  Bureau,  together  with  continuation  schools.  Conditions 
in  Edinburgh  are  quite  similar  to  what  we  have  in  this  country.  Tlie 
i-ge  of  leaving  school  is  fourteen,  as  with  us.  Pupils  arc  not  allowed 
to  leave  school  at  any  time  but  instead  there  are  four  leaving  days  in 
I  he  year.  By  this  device  "leaving"  pupils  are  grouped  in  convenient 
numbers  for  advice.  Every  pupil  who  leaves  goes  to  the  Vocational 
Bureau,  receives  advice  and  guidance,  is  placed  and  enrolled  in 
the  voluntary  continuation  schools — not  compulsory  continuation 
schools.  Seventy  per  cent,  of  working  boys  and  girls  are  in  attend- 
ance and  attend  approximately  ninety  per  cent,  of  time.  It  seems 
to  me  that  we  may  soon  cease  pilgrimages  to  Germany  for  educa- 
tional inspiration  and  may  go  further  north.  At  least  the  example 
of  Edinburgh  shows  a  specific  attainment  of  the  goal  toward  which 
we  are  tending.  Vocational  work  will  probably  eventuate  in  a  definite 
department.  We  must  make  room  in  our  educational  family  for  a 
new  member.  It  is  not  at  all  surprising  to  us  in  this  country  to  see 
new  principles  evolved  from  outside  influences.  Nearly  everything 
v.e  have  has  come  from  the  outside,  from  individual  seers  and  pro- 
phets. Nowadays  I  believe  more  and  more  the  teacher  in  the  school 
is  co-operating  and  making  it  easier  for  contributions  from  the  out- 
side. This  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  present  educational 
attitude.  Twenty  or  thirty  years,  ago  when  various  reforms  came  in, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  schools.  To-day 
it  is  different.  The  schools  welcome  contributions,  but  they  wish 
t(.  be  sure  that  they  are  right  before  they  go  ahead. 

Eventually  our  educational  structure  will  be  profoundly  changed. 
At  present  these  notions  are  like  the  ornaments  on  the  educational 
garment — like  the  feather  in  the  hat — but  if  we  make  our  schools 
leflect  proportionate  social  needs  these  mere  ornaments — this  feather 
in  the  hat — will  likely  become  the  garment  itself  and  the  present  gar- 
ment become  the  feather  in  the  hat. 


SESSION    OF    WEDNESDAY    EVENING,    OCTOBER    -^ 
At  the  Stuyvesant  High  School 

CONFERENCE    ON    FOLLOW-UP 

Chairman,  Altce  P.  Barrows 
Director  Vocational   Education  Survey,   New  York 

The  Chairman  :  Every  new  movement  coins  its  own 
phraseoloo-y.  It  may  coin  entirely  new  words,  or  it  may  bring  out 
new  meanings  in  old  words  or  phrases.  The  vitality  and  success  of 
the  movement  is  ultimately  shown  by  the  ability  of  its  promoters  tu 
crystallize  and  make  clear  in  words  the  idea  back  of  the  moven^^nt. 
Vague  indefinite  phrases  are  signs  of  vague,  indefinite  aims.  High- 
sounding  words  that  one  cannot  explain  are  like  boats  which  ca 
too  much  sail  and  too  little  ballast.  They  never  reach  port.  They 
never  dock  and  deliver  the  goods.  When  I  was  in  college  I  remem- 
ber the  exasperating  statement  of  one  professor  that  if  you  couldn't 
say  what  you  meant,  you  didn't  knoiv  what  you  meant.  It  is  true. 
For  that  reason,  all  those  interested  in  a  new  movement  have  a 
moral  obligation  to  find  out  what  the}'  mean,  if  they  care  about  the 
success  of  the  movement. 

This  is  particularly  true  in  connection  with  such  a  movement  as 
vocational  guidance,  which  abounds  in  rather  top-heavy  phraser 
and  words  which  sound  well  until  you  examine  them  by  the  test 
question,  "What  do  you  really  mean?"  Such  examination  may  leave 
them  standing  more  firmly  or  it  may  dissipate  them  into  thin  air. 
I  have  often  wished,  for  example,  that  that  test  might  be  made 
upon  such  a  vocational  guidance  phrase  as  "vocational  desires." 
What  would  that  idealistic  adjective  and  emotional  noun  look  like 
when  actually  applied  to  the  jobs  possible  for  fourteen  to  sixteen- 
year-old  children  ? 

One  of  these  phrases  which  is  commonly  tised  in  vocational 
guidance  conferences,  but  which  the  layman  does  not  readily  under- 
stand, is  the  term  "follow-up."  Those  are  two  perfectly  simple 
Anglo-Saxon  words.  Vocational  guidance  has  hyphenated  them  to 
make  them  express  a  particular  phase  of  vocational  guidance  work. 
Things  have  even  gone  so  far  that  they  have  been  capitalized  and 
set  off  by  themselves  in  conjunction  with  the  word  "work"  to  give 
them  the  dignity  of  a  noun.  So  that  we  find  that  a  part  of  vocational 
guidance  is  "Follow-up  Work."  Yet  I  doubt  if  we  could  find  half  a 
dozen  people  who  would  agree  as  to  exactly  what  they  mean  by  this 
term.  The  aim  of  this  conference  is  to  throw  some  light  upon  its 
meaning. 

24 


FOLLOW-UP  25 

^'■^  conference  has  been  planned  in  order  that  the  various 
methods  of  Follow-up  which  are  now  in  vogue  may  be  put  clearly 
before  you.  I  believe  that  we  should  all  agree  that  one  of  the  most 
important  things  that  can  grov/  out  of  the  study  of  vocational  guid- 
ance is  some  plan  which  will  enable  the  schools  to  keep  track  of 
their  students — "follow  them  up" — both  while  they  are  in  school 
and  after  they  have  left,  so  that  every  city  may  know  what  is  the 
size  of  its  problem  in  respect  to  the  number  which  must  be  educated, 
and  secondly,  to  what  extent  the  schools  are  meeting  their  obliga- 
tion to  give  these  children  the  education  which  they  need.  This  last 
poii,f  can  be  ascertained  only  by  finding  out  what  is  the  product 
of  the  schools  and  how  it  is  used.  For  this  reason  the  apparently 
' "  jwical  question  of  the  method  of  follow-up  becomes  of  vital  im- 
p^arance  in  constructive  educational  work. 

I  have  asked  Dr.  Edgar  S.  Barney  to  tell  us  of  the  method  of 
follow-up  work  in  the  Hebrew  Technical  School.  This  will  show 
us  the  problem  in  a  private  school— one  of  the  oldest  and  most  re- 
spected. Mr.  Chatfield  will  show  just  what  the  scope  of  the  task 
is  in  such  a  city  as  New  York ;  and  Mrs.  Woolley  will  tell  us  of  the 
constructive  and  successful  work  in  this  line  which  has  been  done 
in  Cincinnati. 

PRACTICAL     FOLLOW-UP    WORK     OF    THE     HEBREW 
TECHNICAL      INSTITUTE 

Dr.  Edgar  S.  Barney 
Principal   of  the   Hebrew   Technical    Institute,   New   York 

The  Boys'  Hebrew  Technical  Institute  provides  instruction  for 
about  275  boys  between  14  and  17  years  of  age,  nearly  all  of  whom 
have  been  graduated  from  the  public  schools.  A  three-year  course  is 
offered,  specialization  being  allowed  in  the  third  year. 

In  order  to  be  of  assistance  to  boys  in  selecting  their  course,  we 
ask  each  to  write  a  letter  stating  his  name,  his  age,  where  he  was  born, 
what  work  he  likes  best  to  do,  what  work  he  thinks  he  will  succeed  in 
best.  With  these  letters  as  a  basis,  a  conference  is  held  with  each  boy 
and  possible  electives  discussed.  Usually  in  this  way  the  boy  is  enabled 
to  select  the  right  course  of  study.  If  not,  a  conference  is  had  with 
hjs  parents. 

As  a  rule  the  boys  remain  during  the  entire  course  and  rarely  stay 
away  from  school.  The  records  from  July  15  to  today  'ihow  that  in 
one  section  there  has  been  not  a  single  instance  of  a])scnce  or  lateness. 
A  number  of  other  sections  hold  records  nearly  as  fair.  From  75  to 
80  boys  are  graduated  from  the  school  each  year.    Only  al)f)Ut  (S  per 


26  FOLLOW-UP 

cent,  withdraw  from  the  school  of  their  own  will,  as  contrasted  with 
the  average  record  in  the  high  schools  of  45  per  cent. 

Wlien  a  boy  leaves  school,  the  authorities  help  him  to  get  work 
along  those  lines  which  he  has  been  .studying  in  school.  We  are  able 
to  assist  about  80  per  cent,  of  our  boys  in  getting  places.  Our  grad- 
uate body,  numbering  about  1,100  and  forming  a  real,  practical 
brotherhood,  helps  us  greatly  in  this  respect.  Perhaps  a  hundred  times 
a  year  we  hear  of  vacancies  in  this  way. 

Every  year  blanks  are  sent  out  to  all  of  our  graduates,  asking 
them  where  they  are  working,  what  they  are  earning,  etc.  Our  grad- 
uates look  forward  to  receiving  these  blanks  and  are  eager  to  report. 
Last  year  out  of  1,100  blanks  sent  out,  only  71  were  not  returned. 
About  $500  a  year  for  printing  and  postage  is  spent  in  this  way,  not 
counting  time.  Seventy-four  per  cent,  of  our  graduates  are  working 
along  the  lines  of  work  taken  in  school.  A  number  have  risen  to  super- 
mtendencies  and  foremanships.  Among  the  1,100  there  is  not  one  black 
sheep. 

Our  boys  are  helped  to  broaden  their  information  of  what  there  is 
in  life  in  the  following  way.  Every  afternoon  one  of  our  teachers 
lakes  a  class  on  a  walk  through  the  city,  visiting  various  foundries, 
machine  shops,  etc.,  showing  the  boys  what  is  going  on  so  that  they 
may  have  the  opportunity  to  see  what  work  they  wish  to  go  into.  In 
the  summer  long  walking  trips  of  two  weeks  are  taken,  and  quarrie-. 
potteries,  etc.,  are  visited. 


THE  DIFFICULTIES  AND  POSSIBILITIES  OF  FOLLOW- 
UP    ON    A    LARGE    SCALE 

George  H.  Chatfield 
Secretary,  Permanent  Census  Board,  New  York 

A  statute  of  1908  requires  the  census  board  to  keep  on  file  certain 
data  concerning  every  child  between  the  ages  of  14  and  18 — such  data 
being  the  name,  date  of  birth,  residence,  name  of  parents,  kind  of  school 
attended  or  failure  to  attend,  nature  and  place  of  employment  if  at 
Avork,  etc.  The  purpose  of  the  statute  is  to  bring  about  a  better 
observance  of  the  compulsory  education  and  the  child  labor  laws.  The 
census  was  taken  by  a  detail  of  some  56  policemen.  It  took  these  men 
over  a  year  to  register  all  the  children  in  New  York  City.  Eventually, 
it  is  hoped  that  a  regular  body  of  enumerators  may  supercede  the 
policemen,  who  are  needed  for  their  own  departmental  work. 

Besides  the  field  work  still  necessary  to  keep  the  records  up  to  date. 


FOLLOW-UP  27 

the  schools  send  in  some  600,000  reports  per  annum,  requiring  the  work 
of  six  people  in  the  census  board  office;  the  Bureau  of  Immigration 
furnishes  the  name  of  every  child  entering  at  Ellis  Island  (about  15,000 
a  year,  of  which  number  at  least  four  or  five  thousand  do  not  intend  to 
go  to  school).  The  Board  of  Health  furnishes  the  census  board  with 
the  names  of  all  children  who  leave  school  to  go  to  work. 

An  office  force  of  forty-two  people,  which  should  be  increased, 
handles  the  data  received  by  the  census  board.  An  annual  appropria- 
tion of  $100,000  would  maintain  a  reasonably  adequate  office  of  this 
sort  in  New  York  City. 

One  of  the  by-products  of  the  census  board  is  its  ability  to  advise 
the  city  in  regard  to  the  relative  needs  of  the  various  districts  for 
schools,  recreation  piers,  public  baths,  etc.  The  saving  to  the  city  each 
year  of  the  cost  of  a  single  building  otherwise  unnecessarily  established 
would  compensate  for  the  maintenance  of  the  census  board. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  rely  upon  the  by-prodttcts  of  the  bureau 
for  itt  justification.  New  York  City  is  necessarily  concerned  in  know- 
ing that  all  its  children  are  getting  the  education  which  it  provides. 

The  census  board  knows  what  132,000  working  children  are  doing 
in  New  York  City.  It  is  largely  work  of  an  unskilled  character.  The 
work  of  108,000  is  described  in  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  board. 


THE     LEGAL     REGISTRATION     OF     CERTIFICATES     AS 
AN    AID    TO    FOLLOW-UP    WORK 

Dr.  Helen  T.  Woolley 
Director  location  Bureau,   Cincinnati 

One  of  the  best  Child  Labor  Laws  in  the  country  is  the  one  which 
went  into  effect  in  Ohio  in  Jtily,  1910.  It  provides  that  any  child  who 
is  permitted  to  leave  the  schools  to  go  to  work  under  sixteen  years  of 
age.  must  fulfill  the  following  requirements :  He  must  present  legal 
proof  that  he  is  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  that  he  has  completed  at 
least  the  fifth  grade  in  school.  He  must  pass  a  medical  inspection,  and 
he  must  present  a  signed  contract  from  his  future  employer.  Evcrv 
time  the  holder  of  a  certificate  changes  his  position,  he  is  required  to 
return  to  the  Certificate  Office  with  a  new  contract  and  have  the  certi- 
ficate re-issued  to  the  new  employer.  The  office  which  issues  the  cer- 
tificates in  Cincinnati  is  the  one  of  which  I  have  charge.  It  is  a  sub- 
division of  the  office  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  though  it  is 
supported  chiefly  by  private  funds.  In  addition  to  the  necessary  records 
mentioned  in  the  child  labor  law,  the  office  is  also  keeping  records  of 


28  FOLLOW-UP 

wages,  and  of  the  reasons  for  changes  of  position,  as  given  by  children 
and  employers. 

Ill  addition  to  this  kind  of  information,  we  are  trying  to  carry 
on  a  more  detailed  investigation  with  a  more  limited  group.  We  are 
attempting  to  study  these  children  from  every  point  of  view  from  which 
we  can  get  information.  Each  cliild  on  this  special  list  is  given  a 
physical  and  a  psychological  examination  when  he  begins  work.  A 
particularly  careful  industrial  history  is  taken  when  these  children 
change  positions.  The  child's  home  is  visited,  and  the  industries  em- 
ploying children  are  studied.  The  physical  and  psychological  exam- 
inations are  repeated  from,  year  to  year.  We  hope,  at  the  end  of  the 
two  years,  during  which  we  have  the  legal  right  to  follow  these  children, 
to  have  established  relations  with  them,  their  families,  and  their  em- 
ployers, such  that  it  wall  be  possible  to  keep  up  the  tests  two  or  three 
years  longer.  About  five  hundred  of  the  original  eight  hundred  have 
now  been  re-tested  at  the  end  of  their  first  year  of  employment.  For 
comparative  purposes,  we  expect  to  carry  out  a  similar  series  of  tests 
with  children  who  remain  in  school. 

The  most  interesting  results  of  our  follow'-up  system  are  not  yet 
available.  We  have  not  yet  had  time  to  collect  and  tabulate  very  much 
material.  We  have,  however,  some  facts  of  interest  which  w-e  have 
collected  through  the  of^ce,  which  I  w'ould  like  to  present,  and  discuss 
in  their  bearing  upon  the  problem  of  vocational  guidance. 

There  has  been  a  steady  decrease  in  the  number  of  working  cer- 
tificates issued  in  Cincinnati  since  the  new  law  went  into  effect.  In 
1909-1910,  under  the  old  system,  there  w^ere  3,348  certificates  issued ; 
in  1910-1911  there  were  2,800:  and  in  T911-1912  there  were  2,36c) 
This  is  due  in  part  to  a  better  child  labor  law,  which  reduces  the 
number  of  children  eligible  for  certificates,  and  makes  it  more  difificult 
to  secure  one;  in  part  to  the  compulsory  continuation  school  for 
children  below  the  eighth  grade,  which  has  the  effect  of  holding  man} 
children  in  school  to  complete  the  eighth  grade ;  and  in  part  to  the 
fact  that  the  new  legislation  had  the  effect  of  leading  many  employers 
to  dispense  with  employees  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  rather  than 
comply  with  the  legal  requirements,  and  since  only  children  who  have 
the  promise  of  work  can  take  out  certificates,  reducing  the  positions 
open  to  children,  this  reduces  the  number  who  leave  school  under 
sixteen. 

We  have  made  a  complete  analysis  of  the  statistics  about  the 
2,366  children  who  took  out  working  certificates  in  1911-1912.  Girls 
and  boys  left  in  about  equal  numbers.  Of  the  whole  number,  =)"/  per 
cent,  were  from  public  schools,  and  43  per  cent,  from  church  schools. 


FOLLOW-UP  29 

Tiie  eiirollrnent  of  the  public  schools  is  about  twice  that  of  the  church 
schools.  In  the  case  of  the  public  schools,  66  per  cent,  left  at  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  34  per  cent,  at  fifteen  years.  In  the  case  of  the 
church  schools,  83  per  cent,  left  at  14  years,  and  17  per  cent,  at  fifteen. 
The  most  interesting  fact  about  the  grade  completed  by  these  children 
is  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  them  were  retarded.  Only  19  per 
cent,  of  them  had  completed  the  eighth  grade.  Even  allowing  a  leeway 
of  more  than  a  year,  two-thirds  of  the  children  leaving  the  public 
schools  were  retarded,  while  on  the  same  basis,  only  one-third  of  those 
in  school  are  retarded. 

The  wages  of  these  children  are  small.  The  median  wage  for 
girls  is  $3.00  a  week,  and  for  boys  $3.75.  Boys  receive  wages  about 
seveiity-five  cents  a  week  higher  than  girls  from  the  start.  Both  boys 
and  girls  improve  their  wages  by  mere  change  of  position. 

The  problem  of  vocational  guidance,  in  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the 
children  of  this  group,  lies  in  the  formulation  of  some  plan  which  can 
reasonably  be  expected  to  benefit  the  entire  group.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  a  placement  bureau  which  deals  with  a  few  hundred  children, 
can  secure  better  jobs  for  these  children  than  they,  unassisted,  could 
get  for  themselves.  But  before  adopting  a  placement  bureau  as  part 
of  a  program  of  vocational  guidance,  we  ought  to  ask  the  further  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  a  placement  bureau  applied  to  the  entire  mass  of 
the  city's  working  children,  could  produce  equally  good  results.  If 
success  in  finding  good  jobs  for  the  few  merely  means  that  the  many 
are  relegated  to  the  poor  jobs,  it  is  not  a  plan  which  holds  any  inter- 
est for  those  who  are  considering  v*diat  the  public  schools  may  do  to 
aid  the  working  children.  The  type  of  work  open  to  children  under 
sixteen  is  ill-paid,  mechanical  work,  with  slight  chances  either  for  ad- 
vancement in  wages,  or  for  mastering  a  trade.  A  placement  bureau 
whicli  places  children  on  a  largo  scale  cannot  avoid  placing  most  of 
them  in  imdesirable  positions.  Indeed  no  discrimination  against  even 
the  worst  employers  would  be  possible  unless  there  were  more  positions 
than  children  to  fill  them.  All  the  placement  bureau  could  do  would 
be  to  place  the  most  promising  children  in  the  best  positions,  in  the 
hope  that  employers  would  be  thus  influenced  to  improve  conditions. 
The  hope  is  rather  a  forlorn  one,  so  long  as  child  labor  is  relatively  so 
unimportant  to  employers.  If  the  bureau  were  one  managed  by  a 
public  school,  for  the  benefit  of  all  its  children,  it  is  doubtful  if  even 
this  much  discrimination  could  be  maintained. 

If  advising  children  about  the  choice  of  an  occupation,  and  placing 
them,  seem  futile  in  view  of  the  exceedingly  restricted  opportunities 
of  children  of  this  class,  what  remains  to  be  done?    The  only  im])or- 


30  FOLLOW-UP 

tant  piece  of  vocational  advice  to  offer  them  seems  to  i)e,  to  stay  in 
school  until  tliey  are  better  fitted  to  work  and  their  chances  in  industry 
are  liettcr.  But  at  once  Ave  are  confronted  with  a  two-fold  question. 
Can  mdustry  afiford  to  dispense  with  their  labor,  and  can  the  families 
of  the  children  afford  it? 

Industry  has  re-adjusted  itself  to  changes  in  the  child  labor  laws, 
and  indeed  to  changes  of  hours  for  adults,  with  such  ease,  and  so 
few  disastrous  consequences  in  the  past,  that  we  need  not  fear  in  the 
present  case.  Many  employers  are  ready,  and  even  anxious,  to  comply 
with  the  sixteen-year  limit  as  soon  as  it  is  legalized. 

The  question  as  to  the  economic  need  of  the  family  is  a  more 
genuine  one.  But  rather  to  the  surprise  of  the  public,  every  investiga- 
tion of  economic  need  among  the  families  of  working  children,  except 
the  one  in  the  stock  yards  district  of  Chicago,  has  shown  that  three- 
fourths  or  more  of  the  families  do  not  need  the  earnings  of  children 
under  sixteen  years.  The  statement  means  that  the  families  could 
spare  the  earnings  of  children  under  sixteen  without  being  subjected 
to  undue  economic  pressure.  Indeed  it  is  only  a  very  small  degree 
of  pressure  which  could  be  relieved  by  the  exceedingly  small  wages 
of  these  children. 

The  chief  factor  in  sending  children  to  work  is  the  children's 
own  desire  to  go.  Perhaps  the  most  significant  fact  in  explaining  the 
dissatisfaction  these  children  feel  with  school,  is  the  ver}'  large  pro- 
portion of  retarded  among  them.  Raising  the  age  limit  for  work  to 
sixteen,  will  not  solve  the  problem  satisfactorily,  because  there  are 
children  who  have  already  failed  in  school,  and  two  years  more  of 
the  same  kind  of  school  is  not  what  they  need  or  want.  Their  real 
needs  can  be  met  only  by  a  change  in  educational  method.  We  must 
have  an  adequate  system  of  pre-vocational  training,  a  kind  of  training 
v.'hic]^.  will  appeal  to  children  of  the  type  who  leave  the  schools  early, 
and  which,  because  of  its  appeal,  will  lead  them  to  stay  in  school.  My 
own  belief  is  that  a  change  throughout  our  entire  school  curriculum 
which  would  make  work  with  the  hands  an  important  element  in  educa- 
tion for  all  children,  from  the  start,  would  be  of  enormous  benefit 
not  only  to  children  destined  for  industry,  but  to  children  of  all  des- 
tinies Not  only  may  the  teaching  of  th.e  common  branches  be  vitalized 
by  this  method,  but  the  problem  of  vocational  guidance  would  solve 
itself  in  the  best  possible  way.  Each  child  could  decide  his  future  on 
the  basis  of  a  wide  opportunity  to  try  his  powers  in  many  different 
directions,  instead  of  being  limited  to  the  academic  type  of  effort  now 
tlu'ust  upon  him.  The  problem  of  vocational  guidance,  for  children 
luider  sixteen,  resolves  itself  into  a  problem  of  pre-vocational  training. 


SUMMARY 
F.i.SA  Ueland 

Of  the  \'ocational  Education  Survey,  Xew  York 

In  this  conference  three  distinct  interpretations  of  vocational 
guidance  have  already  been  urged.  These  are:  First,  the  placement 
Imreau  idea;  second,  the  vocational  adviser  or  counsellor  idea;  and 
third,  the  idea  that  the  schools  need  to  be  guided,  more  than  the  chil  - 
Iren,  because  of  the  tremendous  problem  facing  them  now  of  develop- 
ing a  new  system  of  vocational  education.  These  three  interpretations 
have  not  only  been  urged,  but  they  liave  been  distinctly  battled  for,  au'l 
battled  against,  in  this  conference. 

The  interesting  thing,  however,  is  that  all  three  of  these  views 
agree  as  to  the  importance  of  the  method  of  "folloiv  up"  in  carrying 
through  any  one  of  the  three  schemes.  In  order  to  "place"  intelligently, 
for  instance,  a  Placement  Bureau  must  have  some  means  of  following 
up  the  boys  who  already  have  been  placed.  Similarly,  to  advise  wisely, 
the  Counsellor  must  learn  the  paths  in  the  labyrinthine  industry 
whither  he  is  advising.  And  we  have  just  heard  from  Dr.  Barney,  of 
the  Hebrew  Technical  Institute,  of  the  careful  way  in  which  his  school 
follows  up  all  its  own  graduates,  and  how  important  is  the  part  sucli 
information  plays  when  changes  in  the  school  are  being  worked  out. 
The  most  unbiased  and  illuminating  criticism  a  school  can  have  is  that 
which  is  based  upon  a  study  of  the  experiences  of  its  graduates. 

Dr.  \\'oolley  has  outlined  a  scheme,  now  in  full  working  order 
in  Cincinnati,  which  seems  to  me  marvelously  perfect  in  the  way  in 
which  it  works  out.  It  is  backed  by  the  law  of  the  state,  so  it  has  full 
force  and  is  all  inclusive.  It  enforces  itself  almost  automatically,  by 
penalizing  the  employer  whenever  a  child  is  found  without  the  cer- 
tificate required  by  law.  By  requiring  the  child  to  return  to  the  Certifi- 
cate Office  every  time  he  changes  his  job,  it  eliminates  the  legalized 
truancy  which  our  labor  certificates  too  often  permit.  It  thus 
offers  the  richest  opportunity  for  studying  the  usual  and  typical 
facts  about  children  in  industry,  that  is  afforded  anywhere  in 
this  country. 

The  question  before  us  in  New  York  is :  How  far  can  such  a 
scheme  be  used  as  a  model  for  our  own  city?  Mr.  Ciiatfield  hn^ 
given  us  an  idea  of  the  enormity  of  the  problem  here.  Whereas  ui 
Cincinnati  in  the  year  1911-1912,  2,366  children  left  school  to  go  to 
work,  more  than  40.000  left  that  same  year  in  New  York  City. 

If  the  Cincinnati  scheme  is  a  partial  solution  of  the  problem  of 
follow  up,  I  hoi)e  that  the  discussion  which  follows  will  bring  out 
where  the  Cincinnati  mctliod  does  apply  to  our  own  problem,  and 
where  the  difficulties  would  be  too  great  for  it  to  operate  in  a  city 
like  New  York. 

31 


SESSION    OF   THURSDAY   AFTERNOON,    OCTOBER  24 

At    the    Manhattan    Trade    School 

CONFERENCE    ON    STUDY    OF    OCCUPATIONS 

Chairman.  Dr.  Edward  L.  Stevens 
Associate  .Superintendent  of  Schools,  New  York 

The  CiiAiRi\rAN :  The  task  of  presiding  officer  is  a  comparatively 
simple  one.  In  the  first  instance,  it  is  to  keep  good  order.  In  the 
second  place,  it  is  to  act  as  a  sort  of  animated  phonograph  to  an- 
nounce those  who  are  to  say  the  real  things  which  are  to  be  said. 

I  do  not  know  whether  or  not  those  who  have  been  prmiaril) 
tictive  and  instrumental  in  the  organization  of  this  Second  Conference 
l-ave  given  thought  to  the  propriety  or  the  desirability  of  forming  a 
permanent  organization,  and  I  suggest  that  a  committee  be  appointed 
which  at  a  later  session  of  this  Conference  shall  submit  to  the  mem- 
bers the  names  of  a  few  officers  who  may  serve  as  a  basis  of  an  organ- 
ization so  that  future  Conferences  and  future  meetings  may  be  held. 

There  used  to  be  an  old  college  president  whose  task  it  was 
frequently  to  talk  to  young  men,  and  his  favorite  text  to  the  Freshmen 
was  this :  He  used  to  begin  by  saying,  "Young  gentlemen,  I  don't 
mtend  to  preach  to  you,  but  if  I  should  preach  I  should  preach  from 
one  of  the  commandments.  And  I  should  not  begin  with  the  first 
ciause  of  that  commandment,  but  with  the  second  clause,  which  says : 
"Six  days  shalt  thou  ■  labor  and  do  all  thy  work."  Most  of  us 
have  reached  the  age  and  the  stature  such  that  we  have  dis- 
covered that  the  obligation  of  labor  devolves  upon  all  of  us,  and 
upon  the  least  of  us,  even  upon  young  children.  Fortunate  it  is  that 
in  America  there  are  few  States  where  there  is  still  child  slavery. 
I  am  told  that  in  Pennsylvania  there  are  boys  going  to  the  coal  breakers 
to  pick  slate  at  the  age  of  eleven ;  and  I  know  that  in  the  state  of 
Louisiana  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  man  or  woman  sending  or 
permitting  his  child  to  labor  and  work  at  the  age  of  seven  or  eiglit 
or  nine,  or  at  any  inferior  limit  of  age.  And  you  and  I  know  that 
m  many  places  the  law  in  this  State  and  in  other  States  is  violated  in 
canneries.  But  we  have  fortunately  a  pretty  well  enforced  law  in  thi5 
State,  and  children  are  not  permitted  to  labor  until  they  reach  an 
age  at  which  they  can  physically  undertake  it  and  with  propriety  be 
employed  in  it. 

Now,  the  question  arises  as  to  what  kind  of  labor  they  should  do. 
It  was  a  very  simple  problem  when  the  boy  was  born  upon  a  farm 
or  the  girl  was  born  upon  a  farm^  It  is  a  very  simple  problem  in  the 
small  community  where  there  are  perhaps  one  or  two  or  three  indus- 

32 


OCCUPATIONS  33 

tries.  It  is  a  very  simple  problem  in  a  state  or  in  a  nation  or  in  a 
community  where  there  are  inherited  occupations.  In  England  the 
boy  expects  to  go  down  into  the  mine,  following  his  father,  and  the 
girl  whose  mother  was  a  webster  or  weaver  (my  boy  the  other  day  told 
me  that  webster  was  the  feminine  for  weaver)  expects  to  follo\v 
her  mother  at  the  loom.  But  up  to  recent  years  that  has  not  been 
the  anticipation  nor  the  future  of  the  American  boy  or  girl,  and  full 
liberty  has  been  given  them  until  we  suddenly  lind  a  boy  or  girl  in  i 
great,  vast  city  like  this,  and  as  he  or  she  seeks  work  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  what  should  be  done.  It  is  difficult  for  the  child  to  secure 
an  opportunity  to  work,  it  is  difficult  indeed  for  the  employer  to  find 
the  child  or  the  girl  or  the  boy  who  needs  to  work  or  wants  to  work 
for  him,  and  is  properly  fitted  to  do  it.  I  remember  a  manufacturer 
of  clothing  telling  me  that  he  employed  twelve  hundred  gyrls  a  year, 
yet  at  no  time  did  his  payroll  carry  the  names  of  more  than  350.  A 
contractor  in  speaking  of  the  labor  of  young  men  said  that  there  were 
months  in  which  he  had  employed  as  many  as  sixty  young  men  to 
work,  but  at  no  time  were  more  than  eighteen  of  them  at  w-ork  at 
the  same  time.  Now,  the  lesson  of  this  last  reference  is  this;  that 
many  of  these  young  people,  boys  and  girls,  who  want  to  work, 
don't  know  how,  and  perhaps,  furthermore,  they  have  gone  into  occu- 
pations, or  gone  into  trades  for  which  they  are  least  fitted.  Therefore, 
it  is  a  very  right  and  proper  thing  that  a  part  of  your  work  and  part 
of  your  investigation  should  relate  to  the  discovery  of  capacities,  in- 
dividual capacities,  what  children  are  fitted  for  and  how  they  are 
fitted.  But  in  a  great  city  such  as  this  is,  where  the  man  in  Harlem 
has  never  heard  of  Williamsburg,  and  he  who  lives  in  Bayridge  knows 
nothing  about  Wakefield,  it  is  very  proper  that  we  should  make  a  very 
careful,  a  very  intimate,  a  very  intelligent  study  of  the  occupation  into 
which  young  people  may  go,  and  which  demand  the  labor  of  young 
people.  In  my  own  mind  and  for  my  own  purposes  I  desire  to  submit 
occupations  which  employ  boys  and  girls,  to  these  seven  tests.  Some 
of  them  will  suggest  themselves  to  you  at  once : 

I.  Is  the  trade  or  occupation  healthful?  Now,  as  a  school  officer 
I  care  nothing  about  the  preparation  of  a  boy  or  a  girl  for  a  trade  or 
occupation  that  is  not  healthful.  Let  them  invent  some  labor-saving 
machinery,  let  them  devise  something,  let  them  get  along  without, 
whatever  it  may  be.  As  a  school  officer  and  a^^  a  parent  and  as  ;i 
citizen  I  do  not  care  to  particii)ate  in  the  preparation  and  training  of 
the  boy  or  girl  for  an  occupation  or  trade  which  is  not  healthful  and 
which  is  not  conducted  in  healthful  surroundings.  You  may  say  It 
is  necessary  for  us  to  make  files.  Yes.  Let  us  find  soine  way  of  cutting 
files  without  throwing  steel  dust  into  the  lungs. 


34  OCCUPATIONS 

2.  The  second  question  is  this :  "Is  it  an  enduring  occupation  or 
trade?  There  was  once  upon  a  time  a  high  and  honorable  company 
known  as  ship-caulkers.  And  their  business  was  to  drive  oakum  be- 
tween the  planks  of  ships.  But  the  ship-caulker  has  been  succeeded 
by  the  bolt  riveter,  and  we  don't  want  to  prepare  any  ship-caulkers, 
because  that  occupation  is  absolutely  obsolete.  We  don't  need  to 
prepare  persons  to  do  certain  things  to-day  which  will  be  obsolete 
to-morrow,  any  more  than  we  needed  to  prepare  yesterday  person'^ 
to  do  things  which  are  obsolete  to-day. 

3.  The  third  question  is  this :  Is  this  trade  or  occupation 
seasonal?  Those  of  you  who  know  of  settlement  work  know  what 
I  mean  by  that.  Oh,  I  think  it  is  a  shameful  and  a  cruel  thing  that 
society  will  permit  shirtwaists  to  be  made  only  twice  a  year,  and  drive 
shirtwaist  makers  on  the  street  during  the  intervening  time.  I  think 
it  is  a  shameful  and  cruel  and  immoral  thing.  And,  women,  why  don't 
your  women's  clubs  take  hold  of  this  matter?  You  wear  shirtwaists, 
don't  you?  Why,  some  one  says  it  is  like  the  caulker's  trade.  It  is 
becoming  obsolete. 

4.  The  fourth  question  I  want  to  ask  of  an  occupation  or  trade 
is,  is  it  moral?  Are  the  conditions  which  surround  it  moral?  Is  it 
a  safe  place  for  a  boy  or  girl?  Is  the  occupation  surrounded  by  such 
conditions  that  the  boy  or  girl  is  in  a  moral  atmosphere?  I  am  told 
that  there  is  a  tradition  of  immortality  about  certain  trades,  and  hat 
a  great  many  girls  go  wrong  who  go  into  them.  I  want  to  know  about 
that,  and  it  seems  to  me  a  legitimate  subject  for  investigation  by  this 
society. 

5. And  the  fifth  question  is,  is  there  opportunity  of  promotion? 
Of  course  you  will  answer  right  away,  No,  in  most  of  these  there 
's  not. 

6,  The  sixth  questions  is,  is  it  educative  in  itself?  Is  there  any- 
thing pertaining  to  the  work  of  this  trade,  or  the  work  which  the  boy 
or  girl  would  do  when  he  is  employed  in  it,  which  is  educative?  The 
answer  to  that  in  many  cases,  of  course,  is  no.  Division  of  labor  has 
stopped  that.  Yet  many  an  editor  began  in  the  composing  room ; 
began  by  setting  type. 

7.  And  the  seventh  question  that  I  ask  is,  does  this  employment 
make  for  a  living  wage. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  have  spoken  in  this  way  because  I  am  deeply 
interested  in  this  problem,  and  in  the  position  which  I  am  fortunate 
enough  and  honored  enough  to  occupy  I  hope  to  be  able  to  facilitate 
the  closer,  to  bring  about  the  closer  and  more  intimate  relation  of  the 
public  schools,  particularly  the  high  schools,  with  trades  and  occupa- 
tions in  this  town.    But  I  want  to  know  in  everv  case  of  a  sfirl  or  bov 


OCCUPATIONS  35 

from  the  high  schools  of  this  city  who  is  to  be  employed  by  our 
people,  whether  the  trade  or  the  occupation  answers  these  questions 
or  not. 

But  I  have  already  occupied  more  time  than  a  presiding  officer 
should  occupy  under  these  circumstances,  because  there  are  others 
Avho  can  speak  to  your  edification  better  than  I.  The  first  speaker 
of  this  afternoon  is  a  gentleman  who  has  given  great  care  and  attentive 
study  to  this  matter,  and  I  know  he  can  tell  you  many  things  which 
will  be  of  the  keenest  and  greatest  interest  to  you. 


WHAT  WE   NEED   TO   KNOW   ABOUT    OCCUPATIONS 

Dr.  Charles   R.   Richards 
Director,  Cooper  Union,  New  York 

I  am  glad  to  state  that  the  seven  points  the  Chairman  has  alluded 
to  have  been  considered  in  the  matter  I  have  to  present. 

The  points  which  I  want  to  emphasize  represent  simply  an  attempt 
to  bring  out  what  seem  to  me  to  be  the  fundamentals  necessary  in 
studying  the  industries,  the  fundamental  data  which  we  must  know 
in  order  to  move  forward  in  this  matter  of  vocational  guidance.  The 
data  that  I  have  here  are  arranged  in  three  main  headings,  the  economic 
data,  what  might  be  called  the  physical  data  concerning  the  occupation 
and  the  influence  of  the  occupation  upon  character;  then,  separately 
considered,  the  opportunities  presented  by  an  occupation  for  beginners, 
and  finally  the  relative  of  the  occupation  to  school  training. 

Let  me  take  these  up  serially  with  you,  first  on  the  side  of  the 
economic  data.  One  of  the  things  that  we  need  to  know  is  the  size 
of  the  industry  as  represented  in  the  country  and  its  importance. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  have  to  know  the  size  of  the  occupation  in 
the  locality.  Often  times  very  large  occupations  and  industries  are 
purely  local,  and  in  the  matter  of  guidance,  as  well  as  the  matter  of 
education,  we  must  take  in  such  a  fact.  We  have  here  in  the  City 
cf  New  York  tremendous  concentration  of  the  clothing  industry! 
we  have  in  various  cities  of  this  .State  and  New  England  a  like  con- 
centration of  the  textile  industries.  We  have  such  things  as  the 
manufacture  of  paper  boxes  and  the  manufacture  of  books,  which  are 
to  a  very  large  extent  localized  industries. 

A  further  point :  Is  this  industry  a  growing  or  a  diminishing  field  ? 
Is  it  something  that  is  passing  out,  or  is  it  growing?  This  point 
has  been  referred  to  by  the  Chairman.  There  are  many  industries 
that   in   the   last   twenty-five   years    have   been    entirely    transformed 


86  OCCUPATIONS 

through  machinery  from  the  hand  work  stage  to  the  mill  and  factory 
stage,  (I  must  draw  my  illustrations  mainly  from  industries  rather 
than  from  other  large  fields  of  occupations.)  It  wasn't  many  years  ago 
that  there  were  a  great  many  cabinet  makers'  shops  in  New  York  City, 
very  largely  carried  on  by  Germans.  There  are  very  few  to-day.  The 
cabinet  making  business  has  become  almost  entirely  a  mill  industry. 
Carriage  building  is  another  instance  where  the  occupation  is  chang- 
mg  from  a  skilled  trade  to  a  factory  industry.  Blacksmithing  and 
carpentry  in  the  old  sense,  are  becoming  of  much  less  importance. 
Of  course,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  things  which  are  in- 
creasing rapidly;  the  whole  field  of  electric  manufacture,  printing, 
construction  in  iron  and  steel,  etc. 

Is  the  occupation  overcrowded,  or  is  there  a  scarcity  of  workers, 
particularly  of  high  grade  w^orkers?  Of  course,  this  point  means  a 
good  deal  in  regard  to  opportunity.  Jewelry,  for  instance,  appears 
to  be  a  very  desirable  trade.  And  yet,  when  we  look  into  it,  we  find 
there  is  generally  a  scarcity  not  only  of  high  grade  workers  in  jewelry, 
but  of  ordinary  workers,  the  reason  being  that  jew^elry  to  a  considerable 
extent  is  a  seasonal  trade.  We  find  that  in  trades  like  engraving, 
there  is  always  a  scarcity  of  high  grade  workers,  due  to  the  fact 
of  the  very  long  period  of  training  required. 

Is  the  occupation  stable,  .or  is  it  tending  to  frequent  change? 
I  have  already  touched  upon  the  changing  nature  of  our  industries 
to-day.  Cooperage,  for  instance  only  a  few  years  ago  was  a  matter 
entirely  of  hand  w^ork.  To-day  barrels  are  not  made  by  hand.  Their 
manufacture  has  become  entirely  a  matter  of  machinery,  almost  auto- 
matic in  its  character.  Alillinery  and  the  making  of  dress  and  fur 
goods  are  constantly  changing  in  the  methods  and  character  of  w'ork. 
The  hours  per  day  enter  into  the  situation.  Also  the  question 
of  whether  overtime  is  a  large  feature,  as  it  is  in  many  trades  in  this 
city,  notably  in  the  clothing  trade. 

Is  the  payment  by  time  work  or  piece  work?  Is  the  trade  seasonal 
or  steady — another  point  that  has  been  touched  upon  by  the  Chair- 
man. This  last  consideration,  of  course,  affects  many  of  the  trades, 
especially  the  trades  of  the  large  cities,  the  great  metropolitan  centers, 
and  is  affecting  us  here,  especially  in  the  whole  field  of  the  clothing 
trades. 

The  next  point,  the  different  grades  or  kinds  of  work  represented 
m  an  occupation.  That  is  a  thing  that  some  day  or  other  we  have 
got  to  know  very  much  more  about  than  we  know  to-day.  We  roughly 
classify  occupations  as  we  look  at  them.  We  think  of  machine  work 
as  a  high  grade  occupation,  representing  one  of  the  highest  degrees 
of   skill,   one  of   the  most   desirable   occupations,   paying  very   good 


OCCUPATIONS  37 

wages.  But  machine  work  to-day  is  not  an  occupation  representing 
one  kind  of  work.  It  is  an  occupation  or  industry  tremendously  sub- 
divided, so  that  there  are  grades  and  grades  of  work,  and  in  ahnost 
any  machine  operated  estabHshment  there  are  to-day  comparatively 
few  high  grade  and  high  paid  workers,  and  a  large  number  of  com- 
paratively low  paid  and  low  grade  workers.  This  set  of  facts  is 
going  to  be  one  of  the  hardest  for  us  to  obtain  to  the  point  that  they 
become  common  knowledge  and  that  we  may  understand  the  economic 
opportunities  of  an  industry  in  a  more  discriminating  fashion  than 
we  can  to-day.  Shoe  manufacture  is  one  of  the  classical  instances  of 
a  subdivided  industry.  There  are,  they  say,  about  one  hundred  and 
one  different  operations  through  which  the  shoe  passes,  and  there 
are  consequently  one  hurtdred  and  one  different  branches  and  dif- 
ferent grades  of  workers  in  the  shoe  manufacturing  industry.  A 
department  store,  on  the  other  hand,  represents  another  grade  of 
vocation  tremendously  subdivided.  We  must  know  the  names  of 
these  different  branches,  the  kind  of  work  that  is  performed  in 
each,  and  the  average  wages  paid  in  it.  We  ought  to  know  something 
about  the  relative  num.bers  that  are  in  the  different  lines  of  work, 
to  be  able  to  judge  how  much  is  represented  by  the  high  grade  and 
desirable  positions,  and  how  much  by  the  imdesirable. 

'\nd  in  this  connection,  we  need  to  know  something  that  we  know 
very  little  about  to-day,  we  need  to  know  the  qualities  that  are  neces- 
sary for  succe?.'-  iu  a  particular  occupation;  whether  strength  and 
endurance  aie  ihc  thm.gs  that  are  needed,  whether  intelligence,  mental 
alertnes'^,  quicknes'^,  aocur.-jcy,  dexterity  of  hand,  nimbleness  and  care- 
fulness or  artistic-  feeling  are  demanded ;  what  in  other  words  are  the 
things  that  mean  su'^v-'e.'-'s  and  efficiency. 

So  much  for  the  economic  side.  Of  course  this  whole  economic 
division  might  be  greatly  amplified.  I  have  tried  to  touch  here  only 
upon  what  seems  to  be  some  of  the  basic  points  in  this  data;  and  I 
shall  return  to  that  field  when  taking  up  the  opportunities  for 
beginners. 

As  to  the  physical  and  hygienic  conditions  of  the  occupation, 
the  Chairman  has  referred  to  these  conditions  as  being  a  vital  element 
tor  our  consideration.  The  question  whether  the  work  is  performed 
inside  or  outside  of  doors  is  an  item  on  this  side.  The  building  trades 
aiid  the  work  of  transportation  represent,  of  course,  outside  work, 
as  compared  with  the  great  bulk  of  the  industries  of  to-day  which 
are  performed  inside  factories  and  stores,  and  which  are  sedentary  in 
t}ieir  nature. 

Does  the  worker  sit  or  stand  for  long  periods  without  shifting, 
or  does  the  work  involve  moving  about?  In  this  connection  often  arises 


M  r %y~»i^ki^~^ 


38  OCCUPATIONS 

the  question  whether  the  strength  and  heahh  of  a  particular  individual 
are  adjusted  to  things  like  clerical  work,  things  like  brushniaking, 
which  involve  sitting  at  the  bench  continually. 

Is  the  occupation  conducted  in  close  crowded  or  basement  rooms, 
or  in  airy,  well-ventilated  rooms  with  windows?  No  one  who  is  not 
well  fortified  on  the  side  of  strength  and  health  can  continue  in  that 
condition  very  long  and  maintain  strength  and  health  when  working 
under  the  conditions  in  which  at  least  part  of  the  clothing  and  machine 
operating  trades  in  this  city  are  conducted,  where  the  work  is  often 
performed  in  very  crov\'ded  and  in  very  close  quarters. 

Does  the  work  invohe  exposure  to  heat  or  cold,  or  sudden  changes 
in  temperature?  Of  course,  the  question  of  laundries  and  many  indus- 
trial operations  come  in  there. 

Is  time  allowed  for  dinner?  Are  there  opportunities  for  obtain- 
ing warm  meals?  Does  the  work  involve  eye  strain?  And  does  the 
work  involve  severe  nervous  strain?  Miss  Josephine  Goldmark 
has  brought  to  us  in  that  remarkable  book  of  hers  the  effect  of  certain 
of  the  modern  types  of  industry  on  this  matter  of  eye  strain  and  the 
matter  of  nervous  strain,  and  their  relation  to  fatigue  and  their  rela- 
tion to  efficiency.  The  work  of  the  telephone  operator,  the  work  of 
rne  needlework,  and  the  work  of  fine  machine  work,  like  watch  mak- 
mg,  all  are  involved  in  this  question. 

Does  the  work  involve  special  dangers  from  machinery?  Of 
course  our  factory  laws  to-day  are  increasingly  taking  care  of  this 
side;  and  there  is  less  cause  for  anxiety.  And  yet,  even  to-day  there 
still  exist  marked  dangers  from  machinery  in  certain  trades ;,  as  in 
rubber  mills  where  the  rolls  represent  that  great  danger,  and  in  saw 
mills,  as  well  as  in  rolling  mills  for  iron  and  steel. 

L^  the  work  carried  on  in  ar  atmosphere  with  much  dust  in  it? 
Flour  mills  and  grinding  and  polishing  establishments,  of  course,  rep- 
resent dangerous  possibilities  in  this  direction,  although,  especially  in 
flour  mills,  the  maiter  of  dust  is  being  taken  care  of  and  removed 
by  machinery  in  a  way  that  was  unthought  of  a  few  years  ago. 

Are  there  special  unhealthy  conditions,  such  as  constant  wetting 
of  hands ;  or  contact  with  poisonous  materials,  such  as  lead  paint  ? 
The  number  of  unhealthy  employments  is  much  smaller  to-day  than 
in  former  times,  but  the  report  of  the  Illinois  State  Commission  on 
Occupational  Diseases  indicates  how  serious  are  the  dangers  in  this 
direction. 

Influence  of  the  occupation  upon  the  character  and  the  growth 
of  workers.  This  consideration,  which  has  also  been  touched  upon  by  the 
Chairman,  is  a  matter  that  we  are  only  beginning  to  think  of  these  last 
few  years.    Is  the  occupation  stimulating  to  growth,  or  is  it  deadening 


OCCUPATIONS  -     39 

m  its  effect?  Is  the  worker  surrounded  by  conditions  that  are  stimu- 
lating to  ambition,  stimulating  to  mental  alertness,  or  are  the  condi- 
tions such  that  he  stands  still?  Is  the  task  monotonous  and  dreary, 
or  is  it  something  which  is  quickening  and  educating  in  its  daily  influ- 
ence? Of  course  the  whole  field  of  industry  differentiates  very 
markedly  in  this  respect.  Trades  like  printing,  and  high  grade  machine 
work,  present  stimulating,  quickening  influences.  Many  other  occu- 
pations where  the  work  involves  simply  the  feeding  of  an  automatic 
machine,  like  many  of  the  stamping  factories ;  som.e  of  the  lower  grade 
work  in  the  textile  mills,  especially  in  cotton  mills,  candy  dipping,  and 
paper  box  making,  of  course  represent  the  other  extreme.  I  think 
we  are  probably  going  to  think  more  and  more  of  this  side  as  we  con- 
tinue to  study  occupations,  and  to  see  w^hether  the  conditions  present 
influences  favorable  or  unfavorable  for  the  growth  of  the  worker. 

Are  the  influences  surrounding  the  work  morally  deteriorating? 
That  point  has  been  touched  on  also  by  the  Chairman.  We  in  New 
York  City  have  seen  in  the  last  few  years  the  investigation  of  the 
messenger  service,  and  consequent  legislative  action  which  has  re- 
sulted in  an  entire  change  in  the  City  of  New  York  of  the  night 
messenger  service. 

Next  to  the  last  division  of  my  paper  is  the  analysis  of  the  op- 
portunities for  beginners  in  occupations,  questions  concerning  which 
it  is  particularly  desirable  to  study  and  inform  ourselves  about  in  this 
matter  of  vocational  guidance. 

First,  the  different  ways  in  which  beginners  enter  the  occupa- 
tion. I  had  the  opportunity  this  noon  of  a  conference  with  half  a 
dozen  gentlemen  representing  the  clothing  trades  of  New  York  City. 
One  of  the  remarks  made  at  that  conference  by  one  of  these  gentle- 
men was  the  fact  that  there  is  no  regular  way  of  entering  the  clothing 
trades  of  this  City.  Young  men,  young  women,  girls  enter  the  cloth- 
ing establishments,  and  the  whole  field  of  machine  operating,  with  no 
Qefinite  status  and  very  little  training.  They  come  into  no  definite 
position,  but  they  shortly  obtain  the  work  which  their  own  ability 
entitles  them  to.  They  find  themselves,  and  the  employer  finds  where 
ihey  belong.  This  condition  of  things  is,  of  course,  tremendously 
characteristic  of  the  whole  bulk  of  American  labor,  of  American  indus- 
try. .We  have  very  little  of  the  orderly  procedure  of  Germany  or  France 
or  of  England  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  entering  the  industries.  The 
great  mass  of  young  people  come  into  it  year  after  year  in  miscellaneous 
fashion  as  beginners  and  find  themselves.  They  come  in  to  a  large 
extent  as  helpers  or  tenders  of  machines.  Take  the  whole  field  of 
commercial  work.  What  a  great  variety  of  conditions  of  entrance  are 
presented  there.     Beginners   come   in   as   office   boys,   with    working 


40  OCCUPATIONS 

papers,  they  coiiie  in  as  high  school  graduates,  they  come  in  as  college 
graduates.  There  is  no  one  way  but  an  infinite  variety  of  the  waj'^s 
in  which  occupations  are  entered  upon. 

Are  untrained  beginners  wanted  by  employers?  That  is  a  que?- 
tion  that  reacts  very  decidedly  upon  the  question  of  schooling.  In 
any  city  we  find  in  quite  a  number  of  trades  that  the  employer  is  much 
disinclined  to  taking  untrained  beginners.  In  many  trades  the  whole 
irupply  of  workers  is  fed  from  outside  of  the  city.  Their  training  is 
obtained  in  the  small  towns  and  cities  of  the  state,  and  they  come  to 
New  York  with  some  degree  of  industrial  training  and  obtain  em- 
ployment because  of  that  fact.  In  some  branches  of  the  clothing  trade 
it  is  impossible  for  untrained  beginners  to  obtain  a  foothold.  Even 
in  the  electrical  workers,  it  is  not  easy  for  a  boy  to  get  a  position  with- 
out any  practical  experience  or  some  knowledge  of  electricitv  obtained 
in  school. 

Average  age  at  which  beginners  enter  the  occupation.  Pre- 
ferred age  from  employers'  standpoint.  Occupations,  of  course,  vary 
considerably  in  this  matter,  but  here  in  America  we  are  coming  pretty 
much  to  the  age  of  sixteen,  as  the  minimum  age  for  entrance  to  the 
desirable  and  the  high  grade  occupations.  Not  that  a  great  many  boy? 
and  girls  of  fourteen  art  not  going  into  work,  and  not  of  course  that 
there  are  not  many  that  must  go  to  work  at  this  age.  There  are,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  few  instances  where  beginners  cannot  enter  the  trades 
until  considerably  later.  In  foundry  work  there  are  practically  no 
beginners  taken  under  eighteen  years  of  age.  Practically  no  one  goes 
into  cigar  making  in  New  York  City  that  is  under  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  In  steam  and  hot  water  fitting,  on  account  of  the  strength 
required  in  the  work,  eighteen  to  nineteen  is  the  minimum  age  at 
which  beginners  enter. 

The  wages  at  entrance.  This  is,  of  course,  one  of  our  necessary 
facts.  Are  the  wages  small  at  first,  increasing  slowly  to  high  wages, 
or  are  they  comparatively  large  at  first,  but  with  a  small  rate  of 
increase?  Where  there  is  a  systematic  provision  inside  of  the  trade 
for  teaching  and  learning,  as  in  apprenticeship,  the  beginning  wage  is 
always  extremely  small,  four  or  five  dollars  a  week;  but  there  is  the 
opportunity  for  gradual  increase  up  to  high  wages.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  highly  specialized  industry,  based  on  piece  work  and  much 
automatic  machinery,  is  the  occupation  where  the  wages  are  relativelv 
high  at  first,  or  very  near  the  first,  but  where  the  ultimate  opportunity 
is  relatively  small,  where  the  opportunity  of  increase  is  exhausted  in 
a  year,  two  years  or  three  years. 

The  next  three  points,  the  per  cent,  of  beginners  leaving  in  space 
of  one  year,  the  per  cent,  remaining  in  low  paid  work  at  the  end  of 


OCCUPATIONS  41 

six  years ;  and  the  per  cent,  advanced  to  more  skilled  or  responsible 
work  at  higher  wages,  represent  the  kind  of  data  that  we  must  know- 
to  tell  us  accurately  the  degree  of  economic  opportunity  jiresented  by 
this  or  that  occupatiori. 

Referring  again  to  the  machine  industry,  as  I  have  said,  we  think 
of  it  as  a  high  grade  industry,  presenting  a  fair  rate  of  return  at  skilled 
'vork.  But  until  we  know  better  how  to  answer  some  of  these  three 
questions,  w'e  really  know  very  little  as  to  the  chance  of  a  boy  who 
goes  into  the  machine  industry  arriving  at  the  stage  of  the  skilled 
worker.  So  the  percentage  of  those  that  remain  and  the  percentage 
that  arrive  at  more  skilled  and  adAanced  work  at  higher  wages  are 
very  important  elements  in  the  data  that  we  need.  Take  such  trades 
:'S  lithography,  for  instance.  We  think  of  this  as  a  high  grade  trade. 
And  yet  over  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  operatives  employed  in  lithographic 
establishments  in  New  York  City  are  engaged  in  low  grade  work, 
bringing  less  than  $io  a  week  for  the  men  and  less  than  $9  a  week  for 
the  women.  Yet  that  is  one  of  the  trades  we  are  apt  to  hold  up  as 
a  higli  grade  industry,  and  one  offering  the  best  of  opportunities. 

Have  all  beginners  opportunity  to  learn  more  than  one  operation 
or  kind  of  work?  That,  of  course,  is  closely  associated  with  the 
question  of  the  extent  of  opportunities  presented  to  the  adult  worker. 

Are  there  opportunities  later  on  for  those  showing  ability  to  change 
from  one  deparnient  to  another?  That  is  one  of  the  main  questions 
that  face  us  in  the  study  of  an  industry  like  the  shoe  industry.  Upon 
such  a  question  depends  largely  the  breadth  of  opportunity  and  surety 
of  steadv  employment  at  times  of  trade  fluctuation  in  such  an  industry. 
Is  the  occupation  open  at  the  top  for  all  beginners  with  requisite 
ability?  How  are  skilled  or  high  grade  workers  recruited?  Doc, 
the  worker  receive  any  instruction  or  training  from  the  employer? 
Is  there  an  apprenticeship  system?  \Vhat  percentage  of  all  young 
beginners  are  apprenticed?  Kven  in  those  industries  which  are  thought 
of  as  industries  with  a  well  organized  apprenticeship  system,  we  find 
that  the  actual  proportion  of  apprentices  is  extremely  small  to  the 
number  of  beginners.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  one  of  our  large 
electrical  corporations  where  they  have  an  admirable  school  for 
the  training  of  apprentices.  .Some  six  years  ago  when  I  asked  the 
director  of  the  school  how  many  entered  during  the  year,  I  was  told 
about  sixty.  It  is  probable  that  the  numl)er  is  larger  now,  as  the 
school  has  been  increased.  When  I  asked  how  many  young  persons 
entered  the  factory  in  unskilled  and  low  grade  wf)rk  during  the  period 
of  a  vear.  T  was  told  about  fifteen  hundred.  Thi^  illu^^l rated  the  per- 
centage of  apprentices,  those  that  were  going  t<»  lie  trained  for  high 


42  ■  OCCUPATIONS 

grade  work  as  compared  with  the  total  number  of  young  persons 
entering  that  industry. 

What  are  the  trade  union  restrictions  as  to  apprenticeship  or 
helpers?    These  also  involve  data  that  we  need  to  know. 

But  beyond  all  these  questions  we  ought  to  know  the  relations 
of  the  occupation  to  school  facilities,  and  any  study  of  an  occupation, 
it  seems  to  me,  should  necessarily  be  bound  up  and  connected  with 
some  study  of  the  relation  of  school  facilities  to  that  occupation. 
Such  a  question  as  whether  this  industry — this  particular  occupation 
tiiat  is  being  studied — is  hampered  by  the  lack  of  knowledge  or  train- 
ing on  the  part  of  beginners,  is  a  question  we  have  got  to  ask  of  indus- 
try to  know  where  we  stand  in  the  matter. 

Is  school  training  beyond  the  "working  paper"  grade  of  value 
for  success  in  the  occupation  ?  Is  school  training  beyond  the  gradua- 
tion from  grammar  schools,  of  advantage?  Is  a  complete  High  School 
education  of  advantage?  Is  vocational  school  training,  in  any  form, 
an  advantage?  If  either  general  or  vocational  training  is  an  advan- 
tage, just  what  kind  of  training  is  most  necessarj'  for  efficiency?  (a) 
Cfcneral  knowledge,  (b)  Industrial  and  economic  intelligence,  (c) 
Specialized  technical  knowledge,  (d)  Manipulative  skill.  Would  such 
instruction  be  most  helpful  if  obtained  before  entrance  upon  the  occu- 
pation, or  after?  Is  there  need  for  vocational  training  before  entering 
the  occupation?  What  institutions  exist  to  furnish  such  training? 
Is  supplementary  (evening)  instruction  desirable  to  complete  the 
equipment  of  workers  in  the  occupation?  Is  there  provision  in  exist- 
mg  institutions  for  such  instruction?  Is  there  need  for  a  part  time 
school,  vocational  or  otherwise,  for  boys  and  girls  at  work  in  the 
occupation?  Would  employers  be  willing  to  allow  young  employes 
to  attend  such  a  school — half  a  day — whole  day — without  reduction 
in  wages?  This  last  set  of  questions  represent  but  some  of  those 
that  must  be  asked  of  an  occupation  to  find  out  just  what  relation 
school  facilities  present  regarding  that  particular  occupation.  Those 
questions,  you  will  note,  are  not  questions  which  start  from  the  school 
side.  I  have  not  asked,  have  we  schools  which  provide  for  industry? 
It  seems  to  me  we  must  approach  the  question  from  the  other  side.  We 
must  ask  specifically  of  a  particular  occupation,  "Have  we  the  schools 
that  adequately  and  properly  equip  people  for  entering  or  for  advanc- 
ing in  your  occupation?"  Only  by  making  the  approach  in  this  way 
to  the  occupations  will  we  ever  be  able  to  find  out  whether  we  are 
adjusted  on  the  school  side  to  the  needs  of  practical  life. 

It  is  evident  that  if  we  are  to  carry  out  any  scheme  of  vocational 


OCCUPATIONS  43 

guidance,  we  need  besides  this  sort  of  information  data  that  are  oB- 
tained  on  the  inside  of  the  schools.  We  need  data  as  to  the  aptitudes  and 
?bility  of  the  children  that  are  gained  by  sympathetic  and  discriminating 
observers.   But  all  that  is  outside  of  my  field  to-day. 

The  collection  of  the  data  to  which  I  have  specifically  referred  is 
evidently  a  pretty  big  task. 

It  is  also  very  evident  that  unless  this  information  is  accurate 
it  has  very  little  use.  In  fact,  it  is  worse  than  useless,  because  it  is 
misleading. 

It  is  evident  also  that  to  gather  data  of  this  kind  means  a  great 
undertaking,  because  a  large  number  of  establishments  must  be  studied 
to  cover  the  great  differences  in  practice  and  in  method  and  in  organ- 
ization that  obtain  in  American  conditions. 

It  is  evident  also  that  the  peaple  who  collect  information  of  this 
kind  should  be  people  with  a  large  amount  of  industrial  and  social 
intelligence. 

This  kind  of  data,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  kind  that  we  need  not 
alone  for  vocational  guidance.  It  is  data  that  we  must  have  that  society 
may  the  better  understand  itself  and  interpret  itself.  This  sort  of 
data  would  be  of  fully  as  much  value  for  purely  educational  purposes 
as  for  vocational  guidance.  We  absolutely  need  it  for  reaction  upon 
the  whole  school  problem.  We  are  never  going  to  be  able  to  make 
a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  school  instruction  to  the  needs  of  prac- 
tical life  until  we  understand  more  of  the  conditions  under  which 
young  people  enter  the  vocations. 

It  is  evident,  too,  it  seems  to  me,  that  data  of  this  kind  should  be 
made  a  real  social  asset.  It  needs  to  be  put  in  terms  that  can  be  used 
by  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  people.  Data  of  this  sort  is  something 
that,  in  its  elements  at  least,  ought  to  be  known  and  understood  by 
parents  and  the  public  in  general  and  this  means  that  it  should  be  made 
available  in  very  simple  and  popular  form. 

Whether  such  a  task  as  this  is  going  to  be  undertaken  or  going 
to  be  performed  by  the  national  or  state  government,  or  by  private 
initiative,  it  is  very  difficult  to  say.  It  seems  to  me  very  clear  that  v.  e 
must  have  this  data  and  that  in  the  nature  of  things  we  are  going  to 
have  it  some  way  or  other  in  the  future. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  clear  that  the  work  of  vocational 
guidance  does  not  need  to  stop  until  this  data  is  collected  in  an  abso- 
lutely comprehensive  fashion.  What  we  need  for  vocational  guidance 
is  sound,  accurate  information;  not  necessarily  comprehensive  infor- 
mation.   Data  that  is  far  less  comprehensive  than  the  outline  I  have 


44  .  OCCUPATIONS 

mentioned  here,  may  be  extremely  valuable  for  these  purposes.  Out 
cf  data  of  this  kind  we  shall  know,  at  least,  very  definitely  what  are 
the  specially  harmful  trades  or  occupations ;  what  are  harmful  on  ac- 
count of  physical,  sanitary,  or  moral  dangers ;  or  what  are  simply 
brutalizing,  as  the  work  of  the  rolling  mills.  We  should  know  also 
what  vocations  are  beneficial,  or  which  give  generous  opportunities,  be- 
cause of  their  economic  advantages,  or  because  of  the  educational  in- 
fluences surrounding  them,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  they  permit  con- 
tinuity of  growth.  And  perhaps  most  important  of  all,  we  should  know 
better  with  such  data,  where  to  place  the  emphasis  in  our  educational 
work,  and  we  should  know  much  better  than  we  do  to-day  how  far  and 
in  what  direction  we  should  counsel  pupils  toward  further  schooling, 
c'.nd  how  much  toward  the  industries. 


A   METHOD   FOR   INDUSTRIAL   SURVEYS 

John  A.  Fitch 
Of  the  Staff  of  "The  Survey  " 

It  is  no  impertinence  for  a  private  individual  to  assume  to  inves- 
tigate conditions  in  an  industry.  If  he  makes  his  findings  public,  it  is 
not  only  not  an  impertinence,  it  is  a  public  service.  For  two  reasons  of 
great  importance  investigations  should  be  made  from  time  to  time, 
not  only  with  regard  to  industry  in  general  but  with  regard  to  specific 
industries,  and  the  facts  given  wide  currency. 

The  first  reason  is  the  more  important.  It  is  the  social  reason. 
Governments  have  no  other  excuse  for  being  than  the  conserving  of 
the  welfare  of  all  the  people.  Therefore,  it  is  essential  that  the  public 
be  reliably  informed  from  time  to  time  as  to  the  state  of  affairs  in 
each  particular  industry  in  which  its  members  are  engaged,  in  order 
that  it  may  know  whether  in  those  industries  human  life  is  being  con- 
served or  the  reverse. 

The  second  reason  is  the  one  that  is  of  special  concern  to  the 
members  of  this  conference  and  if  it  is  less  important  than  the  first 
reason  that  I  have  assigned,  it  is  only  because  it  is  logically  a  sub- 
division of  that  reason.  Such  investigations  are  of  importance  because 
they  bring  to  light  facts  which  may  serve  as  a  guide  to  the  choice  of 
an  occupation.  If  an  industry,  on  account  of  dust  or  fumes  which 
are  allowed  to  escape  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  factory,  endangers  the 
health  of  the  employes,  if  on  account  of  dangerous  machinery  left 


OCCUPATIONS  45 

unprotected,  there  is  great  hazard  to  Hfe  or  Hmb,  if  low  wages  are 
paid  or  if  other  conditions  are  maintained  inimical  to  the  well-being 
of  the  employes,  or  if  the  industry  is  without  promise  so  that  the 
employes  may  not  reasonably  hope  to  acquire  a  competency  therein, 
all  of  these  facts  should  be  known  and  should  be  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  youth  who  is  about  to  enter  upon  his  life  work. 

An  investigation  of  a  single  industry  should  include  two  important 
divisions.  It  should  carefully  scrutinize  conditions  inside  the  fac- 
tory, the  manner  in  which  the  work  is  carried  on  and  all  of  the  attend- 
ant circumstances  bearing  upon  the  nature  of  the  work  and  the  con- 
tract of  employment.  The  other  part  of  the  investigation  should  con- 
cern itself  with  home  and  community  conditions.  In  other  words,  the 
investigation  should  cover  both  working  conditions  and  living  con- 
ditions. How  closely  these  two  lines  of  inquiry  are  interrelated  will 
appear  as  we  continue  the  discussion,  but  it  must  be  evident  at  once 
that  it  requires  both  in  order  to  make  up  the  total  of  a  man's  life. 

The  first  logical  inquiry  will  devote  itself  to  that  part  of  the 
workingman's  life  which  is  carried  on  within  the  factory  walls.  It 
will  be  necessary  to  get  this  information  before  one  can  know  how 
to  interpret  the  facts  to  be  discovered  with  respect  to  living  conditions. 
The  first  thing  that  we  would  ask,  then,  is  the  question  which  is  the 
very  first  one  that  the  workingman  asks :  what  are  the  wages  ?  But  we 
must  not  content  ourselves  merely  with  this  superficial  inquiry.  Wages 
are  computed  in  many  dift'erent  ways  but  in  general  they  may  be 
spoken  of  under  two  heads,  time  rates  and  piece  rates.  A  man  who 
is  paid  so  much  per  hour  or  per  day  or  per  week  is  said  to  receive 
time  wages,  while  the  man  who  is  paid  according  to  the  amount  of 
work  done  is  said  to  receive  a  piece  wage.  The  importance  of  this 
may  readily  be  discerned  by  referring  to  any  industry  with  which  one 
is  familiar.  In  the  steel  industry,  for  example,  both  time  and  piece 
rates  are  paid.  The  unskilled  laborers  receive  a  certain  amount  per 
hour.  The  skilled  men,  on  the  other  hand,  are  paid  by  the  ton.  The 
skilled  men  are  the  men  who  operate  the  machines  and  who  can  either 
greatly  increase  or  retard  the  product  in  a  single  day.  The  tonnage 
rate  is  supposed  to  be  an  incentive  to  them  to  get  out  as  large  a  tonnage 
as  possible.  The  common  laborers  who  get  a  fixed  amount  per  day 
have  less  influence  upon  the  output. 

The  question  of  a  bonus  is  an  important  one,  also,  in  C(innection 
with  either  a  time  or  a  piece  rate  of  wages.  It  is  employed  as  an  in- 
centive to  greater  activity.  The  rate  is  fixed,  whether  time  or  piece, 
rpon  the  basis  of  a  certain  standard  output.  If  this  output  per  unit 
of  time  is  exceeded,  an  additional  sum,  irrespective  of  time  or  piece 
rate,  is  paid  which  is  known  as  the  bonus.     This  has  been  utilized 


46  OCCUPATIONS 

in  certain  industries  to  speed  up  the  workmen  to  an  intolerable  degree. 
It  may  seem  at  first  blush  that  the  workmen  speed  themselves  up  in 
their  desire  to  make  more  money.  Of  course,  this  is  the  fact,  but  it 
is  one  of  those  half  truths  which,  left  by  itself,  is  actually  false,  for 
the  standard  rate  is  often  so  adjusted  as  to  be  less  than  a  living  wage 
and  it  is  necessary  for  the  operator  to  make  his  bonus  in  order  to  bring 
his  earnings  up  to  the  decency  point. 

Next  after  wages  come  hours  of  labor.  Perhaps  we  ought  to 
ask  about  that  first.  It  is  really  of  little  consequence  what  you  do 
ask  about  first,  if  you  only  ask  about  all  of  the  important  things  be- 
fore you  get  through.  It  is  hard  indeed  to  say  that  wages  are  more 
important  than  hours  of  labor,  for  a  certain  minimum  of  leisure  is 
necessary,  not  only  to  the  healthy  development  of  a  man,  but  to  even 
a  tolerable  existence.  The  interrelation  of  hours  of  labor  and  wages 
has  been  very  graphically  brought  out  within  the  last  year  by  the 
strike  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  where  men  and  women  who  were  already 
receiving  a  miserably  low  wage  had  their  daily  hours  of  labor  reduced 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  and  who  then  received  a  reduction  in 
wages  proportional  to  the  reduction  in  time.  The  employers  said : 
"We  cannot  be  expected  to  pay  ten  hours'  wage  for  nine  hours'  work," 
a  perfectly  logical  proposition, — the  only  flaw  in  it  being  that  no  one 
has  ever  yet  determined  either  what  ten  hours'  wages  or  what  nine 
hours'  work  really  is. 

I  mention  this  because  it  is  a  bit  of  sophistry  which  is  constantly 
employed  as  an  argument  against  a  shorter  workday.  Steel  manu- 
facturers tell  me  that  they  might  favor  an  8-hour  instead  of  a  1 2-hour 
day  in  their  industry  but  for  the  fact  that  the  employes  would  want 
12  hours'  wages  for  8  hours'  work.  There  is  no  such  thing,  of  course, 
as  12  hours'  w-ages  or  8  hours'  wages,  or  8  hours'  work  either.  Ideall\ . 
the  only  thing  to  take  into  account  is  the  question  of  an  equitable 
division  of  the  returns  to  industry,  but  this  is  so  complicated  a  ques- 
tion that  it  is  practically  impossible  of  solution.  What  we  must  do, 
then,  is  to  find  out  whether  an  employe  is  paid  enough  to  enable  him 
to  live  and  support  his  family  in  accordance  with  decent  American 
standards 

Closely  affiliated  with  the  question  of  the  length  of  the  working 
day  is  that  of  the  length  of  the  week.  Is  the  industry  a  continuous 
industry  working  day  and  night  seven  days  a  week  or  is  it  partially 
continuous,  working  day  and  night  for  six  days,  or  is  it  an  industry  that 
operates  only  in  the  day  time  and  shuts  down  over  Sunday?  If  the 
ktter,  is  there  a  vSaturday  half  holiday?  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the 
importance  of  such  an  inquiry. 

All  these  things  have  to  do  with  the  contract  of  employment  and 


OCCUPATIONS  47 

have  nothing  to  do  with  the  manner  in  which  the  work  is  carried  on 
in  the  shop.  The  Director  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines  re- 
ports that  during  the  last  ten  year's,  30,000  men  have  been  killed  in 
mines  in  the  United  States  and  60,000  more  injured.  The  last  report 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  indicates  a  death  roll  of  2,871 
railroad  men  in  191 1  and  a  list  of  45.848  non-fatal  injuries.  Forty- 
four  thousand  live  hundred  and  fifty-one  accidents  to  workmen  were 
reported  to  the  New  York  Department  of  Labor  in  the  year  endmg 
September  30,  191 1.  These  facts  should  make  one  consider  carefully 
the  question  of  hazard  in  any  occupation  under  consideration.  The 
number  and  degree  of  injuries  should  be  ascertained,  and  then  the 
question  of  prevention  and  of  compensation  should  receive  attention. 

One  should  look  up  the  state  law  respecting  safeguards  in  fac- 
tories and  see  whether  the  plant  under  consideration  had  complied  with 
the  statutory  regulations.  But  the  factory  or  shop  should  be  examined 
in  order  to  find  out  the  dangerous  places,  entirely  without  regard  to 
what  the  law  required  but  in  order  to  understand  the  hazard  of  the 
industry  and  to  help  discover,  if  possible,  the  means  for  reducing  that 
hazard. 

In  general,  what  has  been  said  about  accidents  may  be  said  also 
of  industrial  disease.  So  great  has  been  our  ignorance  of  this  subject 
that  only  recently  have  efforts  been  made  in  this  country  in  the  direc- 
tion of  reporting  cases  arising  from  employment  and  the  compiling 
of  information  regarding  such  diseases.  But  the  information  already 
at  hand  is  sufficient  to  put  nearly  all  trades  under  suspicion.  It  is 
believed  by  many  that  more  men  are  incapacitated  yearly  from  indus- 
trial diseases  than  are  the  victims  of  industrial  accident.  Diligent  in- 
quiry should  be  made,  then,  as  to  whether  in  any  of  the  processes  in- 
gredients are  used  which  are  in  any  way  dangerous  to  human  organ- 
isms or  whether  dust  is  produced  in  any  quantity  or  dangerous  fumes 
given  off.  If  any  of  these  conditions  exist,  one  should  inquire  whether 
such  well-known  protective  devices  as  hoods,  exhaust  fans  and  so  on. 
are  in  use. 

Closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  industrial  accident  and  dis- 
ease is  the  problem  of  overstrain.  The  length  of  the  working  day 
enters  into  this  problem,  of  course,  but  there  may  be  overstrain  even  in 
a  comparatively  short  day.  The  intensity  of  the  labor  required,  the 
degree  of  weariness  which  is  encountered  before  the  day's  work  is  done 
lias  a  relation  to  accident  on  account  of  the  blunting  of  the  sensibilities 
which  inevitably  accompanies  weariness.  An  over-tired  man  is  not 
as  keenly  alert  to  guard  against  possible  danger  as  is  a  man  who  has 
a  more  reasonable  task.     Again,  overwork  tends  to  tear  down  the 


48  OCCUPATIONS 

tissues  of  the  body  in  such  a  way  as  to  greatly  lessen  the  recuperative 
powers,  making  the  employe  more  susceptible  to  disease. 

Having  considered,  then,  the  various  items  which  enter  into  the 
contract  of  employment  and  the  conditions  under  which  the  work 
is  carried  on  and  the  attendant  hazard,  we  must  naturally 
turn  our  attention  to  the  relations  that  exist  between  employer 
and  employe.  We  must  learn  whether  this  contract  of  employment  has 
been  worked  out  fairly  and  squarely  and  agreed  to  by  the  employes 
under  such  circumstances  that  they  may  feel  some  assurance  that  their 
lights  have  been  respected  and  conserved.  Here  we  are  on  controversial 
ground,  but  the  investigator  is  searching  for  facts.  If  the  bargain  is 
made  with  each  employe  individually  and  unionism  is  not  recognized 
in  any  form,  that  is  a  fact  to  be  recorded.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  some  form  of  collective  bargaining,  that  is  merely  another  fact, 
neither  of  them,  just  as  facts,  having  anything  to  do  with  the  personal 
opinion  of  the  investigator. 

Of  course,  it  may  have  everything  to  do  with  the  feeling  that 
exists  between  employer  and  employe  and  with  the  fair  play  or  lack 
of  it  in  the  contract.  Consequently,  it  is  of  utmost  importance  that 
these  facts  be  brought  out.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  public  they  are 
important  for  various  reasons  which  I  need  not  enter  into  here,  and 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  employe  it  is  a  matter  of  vital  concern. 
He  should  naturally  wish  to  know  whether  he  is  likely  to  be  discharged 
il  he  proposes  to  his  fellows  that  they  organize  for  collective 
bargaining.  That  is  what  happened  at  Gary  a  few  years  ago  when 
some  of  the  electrical  workers  decided  to  organize,  and  out  in  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  the  hostility  toward  collective  action  was  so  great  that  a  few 
years  back  the  switchmen  in  the  employ  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron 
Company  were  discharged  to  a  man,  not  because  they  tried  to  organ- 
ize but  because  they  made  a  collective  request  for  higher  w^ages,  a  de- 
mand so  obviously  just  that  it  had  in  fact  been  granted  before  the 
request  was  made.  The  men  did  not  know  it  and  so  made  the  mistake 
of  putting  in  the  request  which  resulted  in  their  discharge.  I  cite  these 
as  examples  of  the  bitter  hostility  which  exists  in  certain  quarters 
against  unionism  and  as  illustrating  the  necessity  of  the  prospective 
employe  acquainting  himself  with  all  the  facts. 

It  is  important  that  we  should  inquire  as  to  the  practice  that  is 
followed  with  respect  to  hiring  and  discharging  men,  the  period  of 
apprenticeship,  the  length  of  the  time  necessary  to  acquire  skill  and 
during  which  low^er  wages  will  be  paid,  and  then  it  is  well  to  know 
something  about  the  methods  of  promotion  and  the  prospects  of  a  man 
rising  in  the  industry  in  case  he  makes  good. 

Many  companies  maintain  pension  schemes  and  other  so-called 


OCCUPATIONS  49 

welfare  projects.  These  should  be  scrutinized  with  great  care.  They 
do  not  always  work  in  the  interests  of  the  employe.  In  fact,  their  tend- 
ency is  usually  to  restrict  his  freedom  of  movement  and  rivet  him  more 
closely  to  the  particular  industry  in  question.  That  is  what  the  em- 
ployer calls  fostering  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  employe.  That  is, 
to  be  sure,  a  very  desirable  thing  and  we  cannot  condemn  the  employei 
for  seeking  to  engender  such  a  feeling.  It  is  to  the  interest  of  the 
business  that  the  employes  should  be  loyal  and  that  they  should  desire 
to  remain  in  the  employ  of  the  company.  But  it  is  not  to  the  interest 
of  the  employe  that  he  be  obliged  to  remain  long  in  the  services  of  a 
single  company  in  order  to  win  certain  financial  benefits,  such  as  an 
old  age  pension.  The  tendency  will  be  for  him  to  be  less  critical 
of  other  features  which  are  not  good  and  to  be  silent  when  he  could 
best  serve  the  interests  of  himself  and  his  fellows  by  making  a  protest. 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  life  of  the  workman 
outside  of  the  factory  or  shop.  We  must  know  something  about  the 
cost  of  living,  rents,  the  prices  of  household  necessities  and  so  on.  or 
we  shall  not  be  in  a  position  to  decide  whether  or  not  a  fair  wage  is 
paid  in  the  industry.  The  money  wage  means  little.  The  real  wage 
is  the  significant  thing.  The  purchasing  power  of  a  man's  daily  earn- 
ings is  the  measure  of  its  importance.  Consequently,  a  thorough-going 
inquiry  into  the  conditions  in  an  industry  will  include  a  study  of  the 
cost  of  living  in  the  locality  where  it  is  carried  on  and  where  the 
workingman  lives.  Second,  an  investigation  of  housing  conditions  is 
i.ecessary.  We  need  to  know  not  only  how  much  rent  the  working- 
man  must  pay  but  what  sort  of  accommodations  he  can  secure  in  return 
for  his  payments.  This  has  so  important  a  reaction  upon  both  the 
industry  and  upon  society  in  general  that  its  importance  cannot  be 
over-estimated.  In  the  steel  industry  in  certain  sections  of  the  country 
there  seems  to  be  a  considerable  amount  of  tuberculosis  and  other 
pulmonary  affections  among  the  workingmen.  This  is  due,  without 
doubt,  in  considerable  degree  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  men 
work,  the  great  heat  to  which  they  are  exposed  and  then  the  sudden 
change  of  temperature,  especially  in  the  winter,  when  they  pass  from 
the  super-heated  atmosphere  of  the  mill  out  into  the  open  air.  But 
physicians  in  some  of  those  localities  declare,  and  with  evident  truth, 
that  it  is  imjiossible  to  say  how  much  of  these  troubles  are  due  to 
the  changes  in  temperature  and  how  much  are  due  to  the  bad  houses 
in  which  the  men  live  and  to  their  own  unsanitary  habits. 

A  house  in  a  large  city,  however  well  built,  may  not  be  a  protec- 
tion against  ill  health  and  declining  vitality  unless  the  surroundings 
are  also  conducive  to  that  end.  There  should  be  proper  sanitation. 
There  should  be  running  water  in  all  of  the  houses.     There  should  be 


50  OCCUPATIONS 

adequate  toilet  arrangements  and  every  house  should  be  connected 
with  a  sewer. 

Finally,  if  we  are  going  to  know  all  that  it  means  to  work  in  a 
particular  industry  and  to  live  in  the  community  where  that  industry 
is  carried  on,  we  must  know  what  the  community  has  to  offer  to  that 
side  of  the  man  that  is  not  concerned  with  physical  labor.  Conse- 
quently, we  must  inquire  as  to  the  facilities  for  relaxation  and  amuse- 
ment, the  libraries,  schools  and  churches  in  the  neighborhood  or  the 
facilities  for  reaching  them  in  other  communities  near  at  hand. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  lines  of  inquiry  that  must  be  followed  if  one 
would  make  a  thorough-going  survey  of  any  industry.  But  now  the 
question  arises,  how  is  it  to  be  done?  I  shall  attempt  to  lay  down  at 
not  too  great  length  the  principles  that  seem  to  me  should  be  observed 
in  any  such  investigation.  First,  as  to  the  investigator.  He  need  not 
be  an  intellectual  prodigy.  In  fact,  it  is  better  that  he  should  not  be, 
for  he  will  not  be  able  to  understand  the  common  people  and  common 
problems  that  he  must  study,  unless  he  is  a  common  person  himself. 
What  is  needed  is  a  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  wath  a  sympa- 
thetic interest  in  the  problem  which  he  is  investigating.  By  that  I  do  not 
mean  he  must  be  particularly  interested  in  the  industry  which  he  has 
decided  to  investigate.  That  interest  will  come  as  he  progresses.  What 
is  a  fundamental  necessity  is  that  he  shall  be  interested  in  people  and 
possessed  of  a  lively  sense  of  social  justice. 

Then,  as  to  the  personal  standards  of  the  investigator.  The  first 
lequisite  that  I  should  place  here  is  absolute  integrity.  There  will 
appear  to  be  from  time  to  time  in  the  course  of  an  investigation  short 
cuts  which  may  be  taken  if  one  will  compromise  temporarily  with 
truth  or  play  upon  the  sympathies  of  others.  The  investigator  should 
avoid  all  such  tactics  as  he  would  the  pestilence.  He  must  remember 
at  all  times  that  he  is  not  conducting  an  investigation  to  serve  a  petty 
or  a  temporary  purpose,  but  that  if  he  is  to  perform  any  valuable 
service  at  all,  it  is  a  permanent  one.  His  work  is  too  dignified  and  his 
mission  too  important  for  him  to  stoop  to  the  petty  subterfuges  of 
yellow  journalism.  He  should  remember  also  that  he  is  not  a  detec- 
tive and  should  never  risk  the  loss  of  influence  that  would  inevitably 
follow  if  he  were  to  gain  a  reputation  for  trickery. 

Second,  he  should  be  loyal  to  his  standards.  If  the  investigator  is 
not  in  the  habit  of  drinking,  he  need  not  think  that  he  must  take  a 
drink  merely  to  be  a  good  fellow  with  those  whose  acquaintance  he 
has  to  cultivate.  If  he  does  not  smoke,  there  is  no  necessity  for  his 
developing  a  taste  for  tobacco.  If  he  already  is  inclined  to  these  habits, 
he  need  not  give  them  up  in  order  to  become  an  investigator.  He 
\rould  better  give  up  the  former  at  any  rate  for  other  and  stronger 


OCCUPATIOXS  51 

reasons,  but  I  do  not  claim  that  they  will  handicap  him  as 
£=n  investigator  if  he  uses  them  in  moderation.  But  what  is  of  greatest 
importance  is  that  the  investigator  who  starts  wath  conscientious 
scruples  of  any  sort  should  never  for  one  moment  give  up  one  of  those 
scruples — even  though  it  be  seemingly  trivial — in  ordet  to  accomplir,h 
an  end.  All  of  this  has  a  bearing  upon  the  maintenance  of  that  integ- 
rity which  I  mentioned  above  as  the  first  prime  essential  to  valuable 
work  in  this  field. 

Now,  as  to  methods,  I  believe  the  thing  of  first  importance  is  to 
get  acquainted  with  the  men  who  work  in  an  industry.  In  order  to  do 
this,  I  would  not  recommend,  ordinarily,  that  the  investigator  disguise 
himself  as  a  workman  and  get  a  job.  There  are  two  reasons  why  I  do 
not  believe  this  the  best  method  of  conducting  an  investigation,  although 
it  has  been  done  with  marked  success  in  certain  instances.  First,  the 
investigator  then  becomes  a  workman.  He  is  no  longer  an  investigator. 
Ji  he  does  the  work  for  which  he  is  being  paid — and  he  must  in  order 
to  hold  his  position— he  will  be  too  tired  to  pursue  any  investigation 
outside  of  what  comes  under  his  observation  as  a  workman.  He  is 
then  piling  up  the  experience  of  one  man  and  that  one  a  man  without 
previous  experience  in  the  industry  and  consequently  without  the  ripe 
knowledge  which  comes  from  years  of  connection  wuth  it.  If  he  did 
not  try  to  be  a  workman,  but  instead  tried  to  get  acquainted  with  as 
many  as  possible,  he  could  gather  together  the  experience  of  a  hundred 
workmen  instead. 

But  assuming  that  he  would  have  lime  and  energy  left  after 
a  day's  work  for  visiting  his  fellows  and  making  their  acquaintance, 
the  second  important  objection  appears,  which  is  that  he  can  not 
ordinarily  be  one  of  the  men,  however  much  he  may  wish  to  be.  He 
v/ill  be  unable  instantly  to  speak  their  language.  I  do  not  mean  they 
will  talk  in  a  base  vernacular,  but  there  are  many  semi-technical 
expressions  and  tricks  of  speech  which  obtain  in  every  locality  and 
especially  in  every  industry.  These  he  would  not  have,  and  on  account 
of  his  own  vernacular  or  the  sociological  jargon  to  which  he  might 
accidentally  give  utterance  from  time  to  time,  he  would  be  "spotted" 
by  the  workmen  in  a  short  time  and  would  be  regarded  with  suspicion, 
because  they  would  understand  that  he  was  not  one  of  them.  His 
presence,  therefore,  would  be  an  occasion  for  speculation  and  it  might 
m  consequence  be  more  difficult,  rather  than  less  so,  for  him  to  acquire 
the  confidence  of  the  workmen.  On  the  other  hand,  if  an  educated 
man  goes  into  an  industrial  community  and  endeavors  to  make  the  ac- 
cuaintance  of  men  less  educated  than  himself,  they  not  only  will  not 
be  annoyed  by  his  university  vocabulary,  but  if  he  treats  them  with 
lespect  and  shows  them  that  he  feels  in  no  sense  any  superiority,  but 


52  OCCUPATIONS 

rather  a  friendly  and  sympathetic  interest  in  them  as  fellowmen,  they 
will  respect  him  and  accept  him  for  just  what  he  is.  So  the  first  step 
IS  to  get  acquainted  with  the  workmen.  No  source  of  information  so 
valuable  can  be  found  and  in  the  long  run  no  source  of  information 
is  more  accurate.  The  investigator  will  learn  in  time  to  discriminate 
between  the  loud-mouthed  man  of  the  agitator  type  who  is  careless 
about  what  he  says,  and  the  serious,  hard-headed  mechanic  who  says 
less  and  is  careful  about  the  accuracy  of  what  he  does  say. 

Other  valuable  sources  of  information  that  should  be  followed 
up  are  the  records  of  local  officials,  such  as  the  coroner  and  the  health 
officers.  Thereby,  the  investigator  will  either  gain  valuable  informa- 
tion as  to  conditions  in  the  industry  and  in  the  community  or  else  he 
will  gain  an  equally  valuable  insight  into  the  manner  of  conducting  such 
offices  in  certain  parts  of  our  country.  As  bearing  upon  this  situa- 
tion, I  may  cite  the  fact  that  I  personally  investigated  two  years  ago 
the  coroner's  records  in  Pueblo,  Colorado.  I  found  that  out  of  125 
deaths  from  industrial  accident  occurring  in  five  years,  eighty-four 
of  them  were  not  investigated  by  the  coroner  and  some  of  these  were 
of  such  a  serious  nature  and  so  clearly  involved  responsibility  of 
someone  that  the  cool  dismissal  of  them  is  amazing  in  the  extreme. 
For  example,  I  found  such  laconic  records  as  this : 
jAMES  F,  Do^LE — Arm  caught  in  gearing  and  torn  from  socket;  no 

inquest. 
Mane  Paolica — Crushed  through  chest ;  no  inquest. 
Willie  Gray — Asphyxiated  at  blast  furnace;  no  inquest. 
Tony  Casto — Killed  at  steel  plant,  accidentally ;  no  inquest. 
Anton  Nemavich — Crushed  by  hot  saw ;  no  inquest. 
MoNON  Viban — In  some  manner  fell  into  ore  crushers  and  was  killed ; 

no  inquest. 

I  have  examined  in  the  last  few  years  coroners'  records  in  several 
different  states  and  the  only  place  where  I  found  a  separate  record 
kept  of  deaths  due  to  industrial  accidents  was  in  Chicago,  and  there 
they  only  began  two  years  ago  to  keep  such  separate  records. 

Next,  one  may  often  get  valuable  assistance  from  local  people 
who  are  interested  in  one  way  or  another  in  the  industry'-  or  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  employes.  These  would  naturally  include  physicians,  min- 
isters and  social  workers.  Here,  too,  one  may  often  be  impressed  as 
much  with  the  lack  of  information  as  by  the  possession  of  it,  and  a 
further  feature  which  is  both  saddening  and  illuminating  is  the  hesi- 
tancy upon  the  part  of  many  of  them,  social  workers  as  well  as  the 
ethers,  to  give  information  which  may  be  in  their  possession  on  account 
of  the  fear  of  offending  persons  of  financial  standing  in  the  community. 

Finally,  after  the  field  has  been  covered  as  completely  as  is  possible 


OCCUPATIONS  53 

through  the  sources  that  I  have  mentioned,  the  investigator  should  go 
to  the  employer,  state  the  case  to  him,  ask  him  for  all  the  information 
that  he  may  be  willing  to  place  at  his  disposal  and  check  up  with  him 
the  information  that  he  has  already  obtained.  Only  in  very  rare  in- 
stances should  an  investigator  go  first  to  the  employer.  I  have  had  :t 
suggested  to  me  that  this  policy  is  not  entirely  in  line  with  the  stand- 
ards which  I  have  laid  down  for  the  investigator ;  that  it  is  not  entirely 
open  and  above-board  to  request  information  from  an  employe  and 
fail  to  inform  the  employer  of  the  presence  of  the  investigator  in  the 
community  and  his  purpose.  I  leave  that  question  to  you  to  answer 
in  your  own  way.  I  would  merely  point  out  that  employers  of  labor 
are  not  always  anxious  to  have  their  industry  or  plant  investigated. 
Many  an  employer,  if  he  were  given  the  first  chance  at  the  investigator 
would  wholly  mislead  him,  put  him  on  the  wrong  track  and  hamper  his 
investigation  in  countless  ways.  I  would  not  say  that  of  all  employers. 
I  am  acquainted  with  some  who  are  not  at  all  of  that  stamp.  But  an 
investigator  cannot  afford  to  assume  that  the  employer  whose  plant 
he  wishes  to  know  about  is  sufficiently  broad-minded  to  permit  him  to 
conduct  his  investigation  and  to  draw  his  own  conclusions  without 
being  hampered  in  any  way.  Consequently,  he  must  fortify  hmself 
with  such  facts  as  may  be  obtained  in  the  community  in  the  various 
ways  that  I  have  indicated  before  he  approaches  the  employer.  He 
will  then  be  less  likely  to  try  to  conceal  the  facts  if  he  is  so  inclined, 
for  the  investigator  will  be  too  well  acquainted  by  that  time  with  condi- 
tions in  the  industry  to  be  easily  misled. 

If  an  earnest  investigator  will  follow  the  methods  that  I  have 
laid  down,  I  am  sure  that  he  will  be  able  to  gather  together  a  body 
of  information  which  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  youth  who  is  con- 
templating seeking  a  position  in  some  industry.  And  if  it  can  be  given 
wide  publicity  it  will  be  of  great  and  permanent  value. 


INVESTIGATIONS,    THE    NEED    AND    VALUE 

Mrs.  Mary  Sciienck  Woolman 
President,  Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union,  Boston 

Emphasis  on  the  Need  and  Value  of  Investigations  has  been 
made  repeatedly  by  the  speakers  at  the  Vocational  Conference,  con- 
sequently at  this  late  hour  of  the  second  day,  the  subject  assigned 
to  me  seems  superfluous.    The  majority  of  that  which  I  had  planned 


54  OCCUPATIONS 

would  better  be  cut  out,  but  there  are  a  few  things  I  should  like  to 
stress. 

First,  the  investigations  which  were  made  by  all  of  the 
faculty  in  beginning  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  helped  each  to 
organize  her  work  better  and  were  made  practical  by  the  problems 
of  placement  which  also  had  to  be  faced.  (I  feel  almost  afraid  to 
mention  "placement"  since  so  many  are  averse  to  it  as  a  part  of 
guidance.) 

Eleven  years  ago  when  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  (now 
housed  in  this  very  building  where  we  are  meeting)  was  opened, 
there  were  almost  no  available  data  to  help  us  decide  on  the  best 
wage-earning  positions.  We  had  to  make  our  own  study  of  working 
girls,  their  lives,  recreations,  occupations,  sanitary  conditions  in 
work  rooms,  salaries  and  chance  to  rise.  We  knew  little  of  these 
matters  at  first,  and  the  more  we  studied  the  more  we  realized  our 
ignorance  of  the  problems  before  us  and  the  need  of  more  investi- 
gation. The  condition  of  the  young  wage  earner  was,  however,  too 
serious  to  stop  the  opening  of  the  school  until  we  knew  enough. 
We  therefore  began  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  with  what  now 
seems  like  insufficient  knowledge, but  we  never  ceased  our  investiga- 
tion, consequently  we  were  able  to  improve  policies  through  the 
additional  light  which  cam.e  to  us.  I  wish  to  state  emphatically  to 
you  the  help  the  investigations  were  to  each  investigator  in  inspira- 
tion gained  as  well  as  knowledge  of  conditions.  For  an  advisor  to 
lely  entirely  on  the  data  gathered  by  others  will  result  in  less  vivid 
interest  and  practical  knowledge.  Every  one  who  guides  should 
investigate  at  least  sufficiently  to  know  conditions  in  her 
neighborhood. 

Investigations  are  now  numerous,  and  data  on  occupations  for 
wage  earners  and  professional  women  are  available.  The  Voca- 
tional Guidance  Exhibit  assembled  for  this  conference  is  almost  dis- 
couraging in  its  content.  Who  could  read  it  all  and  digest  it  also?  It 
seems  as  if  we  now  need  to  act  on  this  connected  material  rather  than  to 
continue  investigation  without  attempting  guidance.  The  general 
investigator  has  studied  many  trades  and  deduced  facts,  but  such 
facts  do  not  of  necessity  apply  to  the  work  in  every  city,  and  those 
guiding  must  have  specific  information  if  they  would  advise  cor- 
rectly. The  personality  and  physical  condition  of  each  girl  desiring 
to  work  are  factors  in  the  situation.  In  spite  of  the  general  investi- 
gation, we  must  come  back  to  the  specific  to  be  really  of  service.  For 
instance,  an  elaborate  study  has  been  made  of  the  dressmaking  trade 
for  women,  and  the  statement  is  made  continually  that  dressmaking 


OCCUPATIONS  55 

is  a  good  trade  for  girls,  for  it  offers  good  salaries,  chances  to  rise, 
sanitary  workroom  conditions,  and  the  subject  is  useful  for  the  girls 
in  later  life.  Yet  there  are  dressmaking  establishments  everywhere 
in  which  a  girl  should  not  work.  There  are  girls  with  ability  in 
dressmaking  who  are  physically  unfit  for  this  trade,  even  in  its  best 
conditions.  Guiding  from  a  general  standpoint  might  incline  a  girl 
toward  it.  Girls  below  eighteen  are  seldom  wise  to  choose  for  them- 
selves. The  advisor  therefore  will  only  be  of  service  if  she  knows 
the  local  conditions  and  in  all  probability  will  in  the  end  have  to 
suggest  a  good  workroom  for  the  girl  to  try. 

Placement  in  connection  with  the  Manhattan  Trade  School 
helped  us  more  than  any  other  factor  to  make  our  guidance  practi- 
cal. Without  it  we  would  have  been  less  wise  in  putting  Mary 
Jones  in  a  workroom.  Generalities  had  to  be  dropped  for  a  special 
consideration  of  Mary's  ability,  her  training,  her  health,  and  her 
mstructors  in  their  investigations  began  to  look  with  a  different  eye 
on  workrooms  and  their  conditions.  Investigations,  with  no  con- 
nected placement,  will,  I  fear,  lead  sometimes  to  guidance  which  is 
not  the  wisest.  Placement  was  not  a  coercion  of  Mary  to  go  into 
any  special  place.  She  had  the  deciding  voice  in  her  own  future, 
but  through  it  we  knew  practically  the  situation  in  the  various 
work  rooms  and  in  which  ones  the  ability  and  physical  condition  of  the 
girl  herself  would  be  at  the  greatest  advantage.  We  could  guide 
her  more  wisely  into  a  place  suited  to  her  than  she  could  without  help. 

Then  again,  my  experience  with  the  Manhattan  Trade  School 
leads  me  to  believe  that  while  many  trades  seem  good  on  account 
of  salary  advantages,  we  know  too  little  of  their  physical  effect. 
There  are  trades  into  which  some  women  should  not  go.  We  per- 
haps know  the  worst  of  them,  but  other  trades  of  which  we  do  approve 
often  occasion  overfatigue  and  general  pressure  on  health  and 
morality.  We  do  not  indeed  yet  know  enough  of  health  and  hygiene 
and  the  effects  of  wage  earning  on  girlhood  and  maternity.  We 
shall  not  guide  wisely  until  we  know  more  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
body  when  under  pressure,  responsibility,  dullness,  fatigue  and  over- 
work. Comparative  studies  of  non-hygienic  and  hygienic  living 
over  a  definite  time  with  normal  and  subnormal  people  are  needed, 
and  the  effect  of  former  wage  earning  on  the  young  married  woman 
is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  We  need  some  educative  method  by  which 
we  can  improve  the  health  of  the  nation  as  a  part  of  guidance. 

The  home  conditions  of  women  at  work  need  study.  We  know 
in  general  that  a  woman's  entrance  into  industry  is  more  or  less 
temporary,  that  marriage  comes  after  a  brief  time  in  the  market. 


56  OCCUPATIONS 

that  the  economic  conditions  in  the  family  are  such  that  in  a  few 
years  the  mother  is  frequently  back  again  at  wage  earning.  The 
knowledge  of  the  health  and  home  lives  of  wage  earners  is  as  im- 
portant in  helping  us  guide  wisely  as  the  knowledge  of  the  trade  into 
which  they  go.  May  I  therefore,  in  closing,  assert  again,  that  gen- 
eral investigation,  while  helpful  and  necessary,  cannot  do  for  guid- 
ance what  personal  knowledge  of  the  conditions  surrounding  the 
girl  and  the  local  trade  can  do,  and  that,  although  we  must  have 
the  best  of  investigators  and  the  widest  of  general  investigations, 
the  guiders  themselves  must  be  made  practical  by  some  study  of 
trades  on  their  own  part. 


SUMMARY 


Frances    Perkins 
Late  Secretary  Consumers'  League,  Xew  York 

I  am  sure  that  if  I  had  not  knovxn  it  before  I  should  be  convinced 
after  the  discussion  this  afternoon  that  nobody  knows  anything  about 
industry,  ^^^e  have  all  kinds  of  figures  in  relation  to  industry  as  it  bears 
upon  the  profit  making  side,  but  nothing  as  it  bears  upon  the  side 
of  the  human  beings  who  are  related  to  it.  .So  long  as  the  industry  Is 
conducted  with  relation  to  the  making  of  profits,  just  so  long  there  is 
no  consideration  on  anybody's  part  of  the  human  factors  that  enter  into 
industry.  But  we  have  got  to  consider  those  human  factors.  We  have 
got  to  consider  them  as  hitman  beings.  We  have  avoided  that  issue 
right  along,  and  I  think  this  is. the  time  to  precipitate  it  into  this  dis- 
cussion. We  are  helping  every  day  to  feed  into  the  industrial  machine 
little  tender  human  beings,  and  we  are  doing  it  without  much 
thought  as  to  whether  or  not  we  are  going  to  permit  that  kind  of  in- 
dustrial system  to  go  on.  Not  one  of  us  in  this  room  but  would 
be  terrified  if  we  had  to  go  out  to-morrow  and  earn  our 
living  in  ordinar}^  industry,  with  its  industrial  accidents,  industrial  dis- 
eases, its  low  wages,  all  the  things  which  little  boys  and  girls,  fourteen, 
fifteen,  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  old.  face  and  settle  as  they  best  may; 
and  I  believe  we  must  sooner  or  later  say  that  we  are  going  to  indulge 
ourselves  in  our  desire  to  meddle  with  other  people's  business,  and  >o 
guide  their  lives.  We  have  got  to  know  where  we  are  sending  them,  and 


OCCUPATIONS  57 

face  the  facts  clearly  as  to  what  we  are  doing.  And  then  we  have  got  to 
ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  going  to  permit  this  kind  of  industrial  sys- 
tem to  continue.  Any  group  of  people  who  are  interested  in  vocational 
guidance  have  to  take  into  account  the  individual  and  the  social  side. 
We  are  in  a  new  and  artificial  environment  in  which  the  old 
laws  of  natural  selection  of  things  do  not  apply,  and  if  we  must  con- 
tmue  this  work  of  vocational  guidance  in  a  limited  way,  we  must  at 
least  ask  ourselves,  "Can  we  not  in  some  manner  or  other  assist  in 
changing  this  industrial  life  in  such  a  way  that  it  shall  be  decent  for 
the  young  to  go  into,  and  can  we  not  at  the  same  time  compile  informa- 
tion for  these  people,  and  give  it  to  them,  and  say:  'These  arc 
the  opportunities  which  are  before  you.  These  are  all.  Take  your 
choice  between  these  meager  opportunities,  but  ask  for  some- 
thing better  and  work  for  a  different  kind  of  industrial  system 
which  will  give  you  a  real  opportunity,  not  for  a  life  work,  but  for  a 
chance  to  work  in  life'.'' 

It  has  been  stated  recently  by  William  D.  Haywood,  and 
Prof.  Simon  N.  Patten  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
both  of  whom  have  arrived  at  the  same  conclusions  from  entirely 
different  points  of  view,  that  the  most  important  question  before 
the  working  class  to-day  is  how  to  gain  more  leisure  and 
how  to  use  that  leisure.  That  is  a  thing  I  think  we  are  for- 
getting when  we  talk  about  work  and  the  importance  of  work.  We  are 
forgetting  the  importance  of  leisure,  and  of  the  security  and  personal 
satisfaction  of  the  persons  doing  the  work.  Let  us  not  go  too  far  with 
cur  ideas  of  industrial  efficiency.  In  this  whole  business  of  work  there 
must  be  for  the  individual  satisfaction  in  his  work,  and  then 
opportunity  for  a  lot  of  other  things  outside  of  his  work. 
I  think  work  must  have  the  element  of  social  service,  else  it 
will  never  hold  the  workers  and  be  interesting  to  them ;  and  I  think 
there  are  very  few  things  in  industrial  life  to-day  in  which  young 
person  can  see  anything  which  in  any  way  relates  to  social  service. 
Think  of  the  children  and  the  women  and  the  men  whom  we  send  out 
every  day  to  perform  perfectly  useless  labor.  I  mean  labor  that  does 
not  result  in  anything  which  is  necessary  for  increasing  the  happiness 
of  the  human  race;  the  people  whom  you  see  going  to  the  factories  of 
this  town  working  at  gew  gaws,  things  that  are  good  for  nothing,  use- 
less in  themselves,  not  to  mention  the  most  horrible  things.  Take  the ' 
talents  of  those  children,  devote  them  to  some  effective  work  which  is 
of  use,  and  you  will  find  immediate  response  on  their  part  to  adapt  the 
industrial  system  to  their  young  lives,  and  at  the  same  time  to  render 


58  OCCUPATIONS 

lo  that  system  and  to  the  Hfe    we  all  lead  a  definite    form  of  social 
service. 

I  want  to  make  these  three  points:  Change  the  industrial  system 
in  order  that  it  may  be  fit  for  young  life;  compile  information  which 
shall  be  given  out  to  persons  who  ask  what  they  shall  do  when  they  w^ant 
to  go  to  work,  giving  this  information  not  by  the  way  of  compulsory 
guidance,  but  simply  as  suggestions  along  the  lines  which  they  can 
follow  if  they  want  to,  the  range  in  which  they  may  exercise  their  own 
selection.  And,  third,  let  us  urge  the  children  to  change  their  jobs 
often,  often,  often,  until  they  have  learned  what  they  want  to  do,  in- 
stead of  sticking  to  their  "life  work"  chosen  at  sixteen. 


SESSION    OF    THURSDAY    EVENING,    OCTOBER    24 
At    the    Hebrew    Technical    Institute 

CONFERENCE  ON  SCHOLARSHIPS 

Chairman,  Mrs.  Florence  Kellev 
General  Secretary  National  Consumers'  League 

The  Chairman  :  There  are  two  contentious  points  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  scholarships.  The  first  is  as  to  the  relative  merit  of  provid- 
ing for  school  children  out  of  public  funds,  as  is  done  now  in  Ohio, 
and  in  a  more  general  way  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  providing  for 
them  exclusively  from  private  funds.  The  other  contentious  point  is 
AA'hether,  while  we  give  scholarships  and  fit  children  for  industry  as  it 
is  carried  on  at  present,  it  is  possible  to  find  any  industries  advan- 
tageous to  the  children.  We  shall,  perhaps,  be  able  to  throw  some  rays 
of  side  light  upon  the  first  point.  On  the  second  there  is,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware,  no  light;  there  is  Stygian  darkness,  but  that  also  may  be 
illumined  somewhat  to-night. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  introducing  as  the  first  speaker,  Mr.  Leo 
Arnstein,  who  has  had  experience  for  a  number  of  years  as  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  which  awards  scholarships  as  part  of  the  work 
of  the  New  York  State  Child  Labor  Committee,  to  bridge  over  the 
time  that  the  State  of  New  York  requires  children  to  spend  in  school 
after  they  are  fourteen  years  old  before  they  are  allowed  to  enter 
upon  any  vocation  other  than  those  of  school  child  and  newsboy.  A 
child  may  be  a  newsboy  while  still  a  school  child.  I  do  not  know  any 
ether  occupation  that  can  share  a  child's  school  life.  This  committee 
has  had  for  several  years  to  do  with  awarding  and  administering 
scholarships  for  children  who  are  in  preparation  for  entering  upon 
vocations. 


CHILD  LABOR  SCHOLARSHIPS  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Leo    Arnstein 
Chairman   Scholarship   Committee.   New  York  Child  Labor   Committ-'e 

The  years  1903  to  1905  witnessed  several  radical  advances,  both 
in  Child  Labor  legislation  and  in  law  enforcement,  and  accompanying 
this  tightening  of  the  lines  there  was  perceptible  a  corresponding 
restiveness  on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  public.  The  substitution 
of  documentary-  proof  of  age  for  parents'  affidavits,  the  establishment 

59 


60  SCHOLARSHIPS 

of  an  educational  standard  equivalent  to  the  completion  of  five  and  a 
half  grades,  and  a  nine-hour  law,  together  with  the  activity  of  a  new 
organization  with  funds  to  maintain  a  worker  in  the  field — all  these 
circumstances  combined  to  make  a  heavy  reduction  in  the  number  of 
working  children.  Those  opposed  to  the  Child  Labor  propaganda, 
either  by  reason  of  ignorance  or  self-interest,  lost  no  time  in  raising 
the  cry  that  these  rigorous  measures  were  imposing  great  hardships 
on  many  who  depended  for  their  mere  existence  on  the  help  afforded  by 
the  wages  of  young  children. 

Judges  and  magistrates  lent  their  aid  to  these  theories  by  refusing 
to  insist  on  the  enforcement  of  the  law  when  poverty  was  pleaded.  The 
sight  of  a  burly  policeman  arraigning  a  diminutive  specimen  of  a  boy. 
who  was  accompanied  by  a  widowed  mother,  could  be  relied  upon  to 
provoke  an  outburst  from  the  bench,  and  headlines  to  the  effect  "Brave 
Boy  Arrested  for  Helping  Widowed  Mother:  Judge  Praises  Youthful 
Prisoner;  Judge  Himself  Helped  Support  Family  When  Only  Eight 
Years  Old,"  were  frequently  seen.  The  gist  of  the  opinion  conveyed 
was  that  the  Child  Labor  Law  was  working  a  hardship  on  thousands 
of  cases  where  the  earnings  of  the  child  were  absolutely  essential  to  the 
support  of  the  family. 

Believing  that  in  the  very  large  majority  of  cases  the  child's  earn- 
ings did  not  play  so  important  a  part,  and  that  under  the  plea  of  dire 
necessity,  the  disinclination  to  attend  school  either  because  of  truant 
tendencies  on  the  part  of  the  child  or  lack  of  enthusiasm  on  the  part 
of  the  parents  was  being  indulged,  the  New  York  Child  Labor  Com- 
mittee established  its  system  of  scholarships,  according  to  whicli  any 
child  that  was  unable  to  continue  in  school  until  capable  of  meeting  the 
legal  requirements  of  an  employment  certificate  or  working  paper,  was 
given  a  weekly  sum  sufficient  to  enable  the  family  to  dispense  with  his 
or  her  earnings. 

Inasmuch  as  the  relief  societies  at  that  time  recognized  their  re- 
sponsibility toward  the  family  so  long  as  the  child  was  under  fourteen 
years  of  age,  but  refused  to  admit  that  even  beyond  that  age  children 
should  not  work  unless  possessing  the  qualifications  demanded  by  the 
law,  it  came  about  that  these  scholarships  were  paid  and  continue  to 
be  paid  only  to  those  children  who  are  between  fourteen  and  sixteen 
years  of  age,  but  who,  by  reason  of  insufticient  health,  education  or 
school  attendance  qualifications,  are  unable  to  obtain  their  working 
papers. 

The  point  has  been  made  against  the  payment  of  this  kind  of 
scholarship  that  it  is  essentially  relief  work,  which  ought  to  be  dis- 
pensed by  the  relief  societies  in  the  regular  wav.  and  without  the  use 


SCHOLARSHIPS  61 

cf  the  euphemistic  term  of  scholarship.  So  far  as  the  matter  of  name 
is  concerned,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  very  important  whether  scholar- 
ship is  a  misnomer  or  not.  \Mien  the  tenn  was  adopted  it  was  an  ex- 
tremely useful  expedient  which  overcame  the  objection  of  the  people 
who  needed  to  be  appeased.  If  the  friends  of  child  labor  legislation 
had  said  that  they  were  prepared  to  give  charity  to  those  families  who 
were  unable  to  dispense  with  the  child's  earnings,  the  reply  would 
undoubtedly  have  been,  that  they  were  not  looking  for  charity,  but  for 
the  opportunity  of  earning  their  own  way.  The  fact  that  the  word 
scholarship  has  been  widely  used  to  describe  the  sum  of  money  which 
is  given  to  worthy  individuals  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  cost  of  tuition 
in  a  college  or  school,  seemed  to  be  sufficient  warrant  for  this  use  of  the 
word. 

I  think  there  is  good  ground  for  the  contention  that  the  dividing 
line  between  these  scholarships  and  ordinary  relief  work  is  extremely 
shadowy,  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  before  the  relief  organiza- 
tions will  recognize  their  obligation  to  maintain  the  child  in  school 
until  the  educational  and  physical  qualifications  have  been  reached,  as 
well  as  the  arbitrary  age  limit  of  fourteen.  But  until  their  education 
has  progressed  to  that  point,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  likely  to  do  so  until 
their  means  are  more  adequate,  this  branch  of  the  work  will  have  to  be 
assumed  by  those  who  are  particularly  interested  in  the  enforcement  of 
ihe  Child  Labor  Laws. 

The  next  question  Avhich  has  given  rise  to  considerable  discussion 
is  whether  the  State,  which  makes  laws  both  as  to  compulsory  attend- 
jmce  at  school  and  as  to  prohibition  of  child  labor,  should  not  assume 
the  corresponding  duty,  which,  in  cases  of  extreme  poverty,  accompany 
the  enforcement  of  these  laws.  Theoretically  this  principle  is  perfectly 
sound,  and  I  can  see  no  reason  why  the  State  or  municipality  could  not 
with  perfect  propriety,  and  with  advantage  to  the  community  and  itself, 
assume  the  burden  which  is  at  the  present  time  borne  in  inadequate 
manner  by  private  societies ;  but  on  the  side  of  the  practical  carrying 
out  of  such  a  scheme  I  am  strongly  opposed  to  the  State  undertaking 
the  function,  which,  with  our  present  stage  of  governmental  develop- 
ment, will  inevitably  lead  to  excesses  and  the  consequent  deteriorating 
influences. 

Speaking  now  of  Greater  New  York,  and  not  of  small  cities  or 
rural  communities,  where  conditions  may  be  different,  (because  it  is 
easier  to  break  up  small  masses  in  such  manner  that  light  permeates  the 
entire  body),  I  have  neither  heard  of  nor  seen  any  governmental  agency 
which  would  accomplish  the  desired  result  without  being  .subjected  lo 
grave  abuse. 


62  SCHOLARSHIPS 

The  pressure  in  all  city  work  of  this  kind  is  constantly  on  one  side. 
There  is  very  little  reason,  there  is  very  little  inducement  or  incentive 
to  keep  down  expenditures  of  this  description.  The  pressure  is  con- 
stantly up,  up,  up.  It  is  just  exactly  the  same  thing  in  the  matter  of 
city  salaries  or  city  positions.  The  administration  of  a  city  department 
is  being  constantly  subjected  to  pressure  to  increase  salaries,  to  increase 
the  number  of  incumbents  in  office,  and  the  only  thing  which  will  keep 
them  down  is  the  officials'  sense  of  duty  in  the  matter,  and  that  sense  of 
duty  is  apt  to  become  dulled  if  while  carrying  out  his  duty  he  sees  it 
isn't  followed  by  any  appreciation.  I  am  speaking  now  particularly  of 
the  matter  of  keeping  down  city  expenses. 

In  the  case  of  charitable  disbursements,  such  as  would  follow  here, 
the  pressure  is  very  much  stronger  than  it  possibly  can  be  in  the  ordi- 
nary routine  of  a  department.  The  pressure  would  come  from  a  thou- 
sand different  points,  and  it  would  be  constantly  directed  at  bringing 
up  the  total  amount  which  was  being  dispensed.  I  have  read  a  number 
of  descriptions  of  plans  which  are  going  to  obviate  all  the  difficulties, 
which  are  going  to  remove  all  the  dangers  which  otherwise  appear  on 
the  surface.  I  have  not  seen  one  yet  which  is  really  going  to  do  it. 
I  have  not  seen  one,  for  instance,  which  takes  away  the  possibility  of 
an  amendment  to  the  law,  whatever  it  may  be.  Having  in  mind  all  the 
dangers  with  which  such  a  plan  is  fraught,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
first  law  which  would  be  drafted  would  be  a  model  law,  protecting  the 
city  in  every  way.  But  what  assurance  have  we  that  within  a  year 
that  law  would  not  be  amended,  that  a  change  in  the  legislature,  a 
change  in  the  head  of  the  city — any  one  of  several  changes — could 
bring  about  a  radical  change  in  the  law.  You  would  then  have  it  with- 
out its  safeguards,  and  you  would  be  subjected  to  all  the  dangers  which 
we  have  experienced  in  the  past.  I  think  a  very  excellent  illustration 
of  that  particular  danger,  and  one  which  shows  that  it  isn't  a  theoretical 
matter,  is  the  pension  systems  which  now  exist  in  this  city,  civil  service 
pensions.  They  exist  in  half  a  dozen  departments.  There  are  no  two 
of  them  alike.  There  are  very  few  that  remain  in  staHis  quo  for  more 
than  two  or  three  years.  Every  year  sees  a  new  delegation  going  up 
to  Albany  and  trying  either  to  increase  the  amount  or  decrease  the 
contribution  on  the  part  of  the  workers,  or  to  do  something  which  is 
going  to  break  down  that  law.  There  is  just  exactly  the  analogous 
condition.  The  pressure  is  all  on  one  side.  The  heads  of  departments 
vv^ho  are  supposed  to  oppose  a  law  of  that  sort  are  afraid  to  do  it  be- 
cause it  will  make  them  unpopular,  and  so  there  is  a  constant  upward 
trend,  just  the  same  sort  of  trend  that  would  occur  in  the  case  of  State 
aid.    In  the  matter  of  investigations  I  have  seen  the  plan  suggested,  for 


SCHOLARSHIPS  63 

instance,  that  the  body  in  charge  of  it — I  believe  that  was  in  the  second 
conference  of  New  York  Charities — the  recommendations  included 
that  the  body  be  appointed  by  the  mayor,  and  the  names  would  be 
suggested  by  the  various  relief  societies.  I  could  name  two  or  three 
todies  that  are  in  existence  at  the  present  time  in  this  city,  and  they 
have  not  been  in  existence  very  long,  which  are  examples  of  what  such 
bodies  should  not  be ;  and  they  are  appointed  under  exactly  those  same 
conditions,  that  the  respective  societies  should  nominate,  and  the  mayor 
is  to  have  the  opportunity  of  appointing  them.  In  other  words,  that  is 
no  safeguard. 

In  the  matter  of  investigation,  I  would  like  to  go  into  the  details 
c  f  the  investigation  which  is  conducted  by  the  Child  Labor  Committee 
on  scholarships.  These  cases  are  referred  to  us  by  all  sorts  of  people 
from  all  kinds  of  sources.  A  great  many  of  them  come  from  the 
schools.  When  a  child  wants  to  leave  school  and  it  is  found  that  he  is 
unable  to  get  his  working  papers,  then  the  principal  asks,  "Why  do  you 
want  to  leave  school  ?"  And  he  is  told  that  the  child  has  to  go,  that  the 
parents  need  his  support  at  home ;  and  immediately  his  name  is  sent  in 
to  us.  The  case  is  then  investigated.  It  is  investigated  in  the  home; 
it  is  investigated  in  the  school,  and  it  is  investigated  in  the  places  of 
employment  of  other  members  of  the  family.  Usually  it  takes  several 
visits  to  the  home  to  get  the  necessary  information.  Then  the  facts 
discovered  are  submitted  to  the  executive  session  of  the  scholarship 
committee,  and  very  carefully  passed  on  there. 

This  work  has  been  going  on  now  for  about  seven  years,  having 
started  in  1905.  I  think  I  am  perfectly  safe  in  saying  that  during  that 
time  the  standards  of  the  committee  have  not  broken  down  in  any  re- 
spect. We  hope  we  have  improved  a  little  in  the  matter  of  discrimina- 
tion, and  in  the  matter  of  establishing  standards,  but  I  do  believe  that 
I  am  perfecty  safe  in  saying  that  our  standards  have  not  broken  down. 
And  I  do  not  think  that  anybody  here  believes  that  any  city  could  tak--^ 
on  work  of  that  sort  and  continue  it  for  seven  or  eight  years  and  be 
r.ble  to  say  at  the  end  of  that  seven  or  eight  years  that  it  is  observing 
the  same  standards,  that  it  has  not  been  influenced  improperly  in  de- 
termining which  scholars  are  entitled  to  scholarships.  There,  I  think, 
lies  the  safeguard  of  the  scholarship  system  administered  by  private 
funds.  There  were  two  or  three  cases  that  came  up  that  struck  me 
as  being  illustrative  of  different  kinds  of  work. 

I  am  going  to  read  the  record :  Tlie  family  consists  of  widow  and 
her  son  Fred ;  husband  died  five  years  ago.  Since  his  death,  mother 
and  Fred  lived  with  a  lady;  mother  assisted  her  in  housework.  This 
lady  broke  up  her  family;  mother  then  secured  position,  and  Fred  pro- 


64  SCHOLARSHIPS 

cured  work  at  the  close  of  school.  He  earned  S3  a  week  delivering 
groceries.  Returned  to  school  of  his  own  accord,  which  is  rather  rare. 
Usually  the  vacation  work  in  the  school  year  tempts  the  boys  into  work 
which  ver}^  rarely  gives  them  up  again  until  the  attendance  officer  or 
the  labor  inspector  finds  them.  Mother  thought  she  could  support  him 
by  washing,  but  as  she  is  old  .she  could  not  do  much,  and  earned  Si  a 
week.  Three  rooms,  rent  $10.  Mother  is  allowed  $8  a  week  for 
services.     Mother,  German ;  Fred  born  here. 

There  was  a  typical  case  that  was  referred  to  our  committee.  Here 
v.^as  a  boy  that  wanted  to  go  to  school,  and  after  trying  it  out  for  a  few 
weeks  his  mother  was  unable  to  keep  him  there.  Therefore  he  either 
had  to  leave  school  or  get  some  assistance,  and  assistance  was  accord- 
ingly given.  In  that  case  $2  a  week  was  given.  And  the  matter  w^as 
referred  back  to  the  relief  society  which  sent  in  the  name  to  us,  to  keep 
in  touch  with  us  and  add  the  necessary  amount  if  any  was  necessary. 
And  I  might  say  here  that  the  policy  of  the  Committee  is  to  give  as 
much  aid,  or.  rather,  as  much  of  the  earnings  of  a  child  as  is  necessary 
to  bridge  over  the  need  in  the  family.  In  other  words,  if  less  money 
than  the  boy  could  earn  would  take  care  of  that  family  and  keep  it 
going,  then  less  money  than  that  child  actually  has  been  earning  or 
could  earn  is  given.  On  the  other  hand,  if  more  money  is  needed  than 
that  child's  earnings  would  supply,  then  the  amount  given  is  up  to  the 
probable  earning  capacity  of  the  child,  and  the  family  is  referred  to 
the  proper  relief  organization,  or  such  other  measures  are  taken  as 
may  relieve  their  distress. 

The  other  case  was  a  very  much  more  difficult  one.  The  record 
leads:  "Family  consists  of  parents  and  three  children,  the  eldest, 
Mar}'^,  youngest  7  years ;  father,  driver,  earns  $5  to  $7  a  week,  but  is 
lame,  and  is  threatened  with  discharge.  Mother  and  her  daughters 
peddle  afternoon  papers.  They  earn  together  from  ninety  cents  to  a 
dollar  twenty  a  week.  Mary,  the  scholarship  applicant,  has  never  been 
employed ;  is  mentally  deficient.  Family  have  two  rooms  at  $9."  There 
is  a  case  where  the  child  is  mentally  deficient.  The  investigator  re- 
ported that  the  mental  deficiency  was  such  that  she  could  probably  not 
get  a  position.  That  was  referred  back  for  further  investigation,  but 
the  chances  are  that  that  will  not  be  taken  up  by  the  committee,  be- 
cause there  the  law  itself  is  not  workmg  the  hardship.  There  is  a  case 
where  entirely  other  factors  enter  to  prevent  that  family  from  keeping 
above  the  surface. 

At  the  time  when  the  scholarship  fund  was  first  established  there 
was  a  letter  sent  to  all  the  schools  and  all  the  agencies  which  would  be 
likely  to  want  to  use  the  scholarship  fund,    and  I  think    the    closing 


SCHOLARSHIPS  65 

paragraph  of  that  letter  gives  the  general  idea  which  we  tried  to  follow 
^t  that  time  as  well  as  it  can  be  given. 

As  a  result  of  that  notice  the  cases  began  to  come  in.  We  were 
rather  astonished  (some  of  us  were  not)  to  find  out  how  few  cases  ac- 
tually came  in,  and  we  believed  at  that  time  that  it  was  because  the 
scheme  was  not  well  enough  known.  We  know  now,  after  six  or  seven 
years'  experience,  that  that  was  not  the  reason,  because  at  the  present 
time  the  number  of  cases  runs  along  in  about  the  same  ratio,  and  this 
is  the  number  that  we  have  had  during  the  entire  time.  In  1905- 1906 
the  number  of  applicants  were  405,  to  62  of  whom  scholarships  were 
granted.  During  last  year  the  number  of  applicants  came  to  291,  to 
whom  75  were  granted.  The  very  much  larger  proportions  of  granted 
cases  to  applications  was  due  to  the  better  education  of  the  people  who 
had  to  do  with  this  law  and  who  understood  that  certain  cases  would 
not  be  accepted,  and  therefore  discontinued  sending  them  to  us.  The 
scholarships  refused  during  that  first  year  were  51,  and  the  scholar- 
ships refused  this  past  year  were  127.  In  other  words,  it  bespeaks  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Committee,  and 
a  narrowing  down  to  those  cases  which  are  actually  acceptable. 

I  don't  know  that  there  is  anything  further  in  detail  that  I  want  to 
say  about  the  whole  subject.  We  are  perfectly  convinced,  after  having 
tried  it  for  a  number  of  years,  that  it  is  a  very  successful  experiment. 
We  are  perfectly  sure  that  it  will  have  to  continue  for  a  great  many 
years,  that  until  the  relief  societies  are  able  to  take  care  of  their  cases 
more  adequately  than  they  are  at  the  present  time,  they  will  not  volun- 
tarily raise  the  age  limit  to  sixteen.  Until  they  do  that  I  think  it  is 
perfectly  proper  that  the  society,  with  private  funds,  should  take  care 
of  that  field. 

I  want  to  mention  also  that  the  amount  of  money  which  has  been 
found  necessary  to  carry  this  work  along  has  ranged  from  $3,000  to 
$4,500.  I  do  not  believe  it  ever  exceeded  in  any  one  year  $4,500.  And 
I  think  we  are  safe  in  saying  that  we  have  not  turned  away  any  case 
v.'hich  we  thought  deserving.  Probably  there  was  considerable  differ- 
ence in  opinion  in  those  things.  A  good  many  of  the  school  principals 
particularly  needed  a  good  deal  of  education.  We  found  cases  when-; 
the  principals  resented  the  fact  of  our  refusing  scholarships  where  in- 
vestigation showed  that  the  people  were  living  on  a  decidedly  high 
plane,  that  they  were  entirely  beyond  the  want  line,  and  that  it  was 
mere  lack  of  information  on  the  part  of  the  principals.  But  we  are  be- 
ginning to  understand  each  other  better  all  the  lime,  and  we  look  for- 
ward to  a  continuance  of  the  relations  that  will  be  more  pleasant  rather 
than  otherwise. 


66  SCHOLARSHIPS 

The  Chairman  :  It  has  been  my  wish,  as  Chairman  of  this  Con- 
ference, that  it  should  have  the  character  of  an  experience  meeting. 
We  are  not  any  of  us  advocating  abstract  theories.  We  are  collecting 
what  we  can  of  the  experience  that  has  been  gathered  in  a  few  cities  in 
this  country.  We  believe  that  our  own  experience  is  rather  longer,- - 
although  it  is  still  slender, — than  that  of  people  in  any  other  city.  We 
have  been  experimenting  longer  than  has  been  done  in  any  other  city.  In 
relation  to  Mr.  Arnstein^s  paper  I  was  a  member  of  is  committee, 
and  I  would  like  to  point  out  one  underlying  reason  for  our  greater 
reed  of  scholarships.  We  need  them  on  a  more  elaborate  scale  than 
we  have  ever  had  them.  That  underlying  reason  is,  that  we  are  laggard 
in  this  State,  in  making  provision  for  workingmen's  compensation  which 
would  place  upon  the  industries  that  deprive  many  scholarship  candi- 
dates of  their  bread-winner,  the  burden  that  ought  to  be  placed  on 
those  industries,  that  of  taking  reasonable  care  of  the  children  when 
the  bread-winner  is  killed  or  disabled.  We  lack,  also,  the  legislation 
which  England  is  introducing  and  Australasia  has  produced,  enabling 
the  bread-winner  to  provide  for  his  dependants.  We  have  no  minimum 
wage  legislation  yet.  •  When  we  do  have  those  two  things  the  question 
will  still  remain  which  children  shall  be  taken  care  of.  But  I  think  in 
discussing  this  question  at  present  we  ought  to  keep  in  mind  that  we 
are  trying  to  make  good  the  deficiency  in  our  general  body  of  legisla- 
tion for  the  maintenance  of  living  standards  on  the  part  of  working 
people. 

The  next  speaker,  Miss  Edith  Campbell,  has  had  two- fold  experi- 
ence in  dealing  with  scholarships.  As  agent  for  the  Schmidlapp  Fund, 
she  has  for  some  years  been  administering  scholarships  in  Cincinnati, 
the  gift  of  a  generous  citizen  of  that  city.  And  more  recently  as 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  she  has  had  experience  in  the 
administration  of  public  scholarships.  So  she  will,  presumably,  be  able 
to  throw  light  on  this  subject  from  the  two  points  of  view. 


PRIVATE     SCHOLARSHIP     FUNDS 

Aliss  M.  Edith  Campbell 
Director  Schmidlapp  Bureau  for  Women  and  Girls,  Cincinnati 

Soon  after  the  never-to-be-forgotten  horror  of  the  Titanic  disas- 
ter, the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  in  an  excellent  editorial  deplored  the 
expenditure  of  more  than  $1,000,000  in  the  erection  of  a  memorial 
arch  in  Washington,  "already  overcrowded  with  statues  and  monu- 
ments." The  writer  urged  in  place  of  such  a  memorial  the  establish- 
ment of  "a  fund  to  be  administered  by  Trustees,"  the  interest  of  which 
should  be  used  for  those  deprived  of  financial  support  by  marine  dis- 
asters. "The  cold  stones  piled  up  in  monuments  assuage  no  sorrov/. 
Statues  of  bronze  care  for  no  widows  and  orphans.  A  perpetual  fund 
to  be  known  as  the  Titanic  Fund,  would  be  not  only  a  monument,  but 
it  would  be  a  projection  into  the  future  for  all  time,  carrying  with  it 
solace  and  relief  of  the  spirit  of  self-forgetfulness,  helpfulness  and 
self-sacrifice  which  led  men  like  Butt  and  Millet,  and  their  brave  com- 
panions to  die  as  they  did."  It  seemed  significant  to  me  that  a  daily 
paper  advocated  as  a  memorial  this  systematic  assistance  of  individuals 
■  —a  social  policy  toward  which  we  have  long  shown  an  indifferent  or 
doubting  attitude.  Men  of  wealth,  as  well  as  the  State,  are  more  will- 
ing to  expend  money  in  institutions,  in  tangible  results,  in  piled  up 
stones  than  in  the  very  intangible,  often  unsatisfactory  result — the  indi- 
vidual which,  as  Rebecca  says  of  her  pink  parasol,  is  the  "dearest 
thing  in  life,  but  an  awful  care."  Hence  the  establishment  through 
private  or  public  wealth  of  funds  for  individuals,  aside  from  college 
scholarships,  is  somewhat  rare. 

State    Scholarship 

In  Ohio  the  following  law  has  been  in  eflfect  since  1908 : 

When  any  truant  oflficer  is  satisfied  that  any  child,  compelled  to  attend 
school  by  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  is  unable  to  attend  school  because 
absolutely  required  to  work  at  home  or  elsewhere  in  order  to  support  itself 
or  hel])  to  support  or  care  for  others  entitled  to  its  services  who  are  unable 
to  support  or  care  for  themselves,  the  truant  officer  shall  report  the  case 
to  the  president  o*"  the  board  of  education,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said 
president  of  the  board  of  education  to  furnish  text  books  free  of  charge, 
and  such  other  relief  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  the  child  to  attend 
school  for  the  time  each  year  required  under  this  Act;  the  expenses  inci- 
dent to  furnishing  said  books  and  relief  to  be  paid  from  the  contingent 
funds  of  the  school  district.  Such  child  shall  not  be  considered  or  declared 
a  pauper  by  reason  of  the  acceptance  of  the  relief  herein  provided  for. 
Tn  case  the  child  or  its  parents  or  guardian,  refuse  or  neglect  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  provisions  thus  made  for  its  instruction,  such  child  may  be 
committed  to  a  children's  home  or  a  juvenile  reformatory,  as  provided  for 
in  Section  4022-8  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Ohio. 

In  answer  to  an  inquiry  made  by  Mr.  E.  N.  Clopper,  it  was  found 

67 


18  SCHOLARSHIPS 

that  the  larger  cities  had  done  something  toward  giving  relief  in  the 
vay  of  clothing,  shoes,  eye-glasses  and  text-books.  But  in  Toledo  he 
found  a  very  interesting  situation,  in  that  there  they  had  given 
scholarships  amounting  to  $2  a  week;  here  six  children  were  virtually 
being  kept  in  school  by  these  small  scholarships.  He  found  also  thst 
other  relief  was  being  given.  One  child  was  being  given  car  fare  in 
order  to  go  to  school;  two  or  three  children  were  being  furnished 
breakfast. 

In  Cincinnati,  since  September  r.  1910,  we  have  also  been  giving 
this  material  relief  in  money.  Before  September,  the  law  had  oper- 
ated in  Cincinnati  as  in  the  other  cities,  not  in  giving  monetary  relief ; 
more  than  a  thousand  dollars,  however,  had  been  expended  in  clothing, 
books  and  eye-glasses.  This  amount  was  disbursed  through  the  Asso- 
ciated Charities.  When  a  child  applied  for  an  age  and  schooling 
certificate,  if,  because  of  its  age,  it  was  prevented  by  the  State  from 
working,  and  if  the  mother  were  found  to  be  in  positive  need  of  the 
child's  assistance,  the  case  was  reported  to  the  Charities  for  investiga- 
tion. If  the  investigation  disclosed  a  need,  the  Charities  furnished  the 
relief,  sending  the  bills  for  such  relief  to  the  Board  of  Education. 
Since  September  i,  however,  the  matter  has  been  entirely  handled  by 
the  Chief  Truant  Officer. 

Since  September,  1910,  about  $1,000  a  year  has  been  expended  in 
scholarships  of  $1.00  and  $2.00  a  week.  Unfortunately  the  system 
of  investigation  has  not  been  satisfactory ;  there  is  a  constant  effort  to 
prevent  the  law  from  becoming  widely  known,  and  the  attitude  on  the 
part  of  the  Board  of  Education  seems  to  be  that  such  a  law  only  en- 
courages idleness  and  causes  pauperization. 

While  we  realize  that  the  service  of  the  Boards  in  this  field  is 
limited  by  the  ever  present  problem  of  taxation  and  inadequacy  of 
funds,  yet  we  believe  some  attempt  should  have  been  made  to  form  a 
constructive  policy  for  investigation,  furnishing  the  pecuniary  re- 
sources in  such  a  way— as  Miss  Breckenridge  says— "as  to  build  up 
the  spirit  of  independence  and  of  endeavor  bv  the  children."  The  law 
furnished  an  excellent  foundation  for  data  that  would  now  be  of  untold 
value  in  the  discussion  of  the  Mother  Pension  Bill  which  will  come 
before  the  Legislature  in  January,  if  such  a  policy  of  investigation  had 
been  attempted. 

Little  or  no  effort  has  been  made  to  remove  from  the  relief  the 
stigma  o  chanty,  and  to  place  it  on  a  scholarship  basis.  The  deserving 
child  and  mother  should  be  made  to  feel  a  certain  merit  attached  to  the 
bestowal  of  the  assistance,  and  that  there  was  no  more  charitv  entailed 
han  ,n  attendance  upon  a  public  school.  In  every  way,  it  seems  to  me, 
the  Loards  of  Education  of  Ohio  have  had  an  opportunitv  for  pioneer-      m 


SCHOLARSHIPS  69 

work  in  State  Scholarships,  in  the  question  of  preserving  for  the  child 
home  influence  and  care,  instead  of  institutional  life — the  fate  of  the 
child  after  the  mother  has  succumbed  to  poverty  and  overwork — and 
in  increasing  accurate  data  on  the  economic  necessity  of  child  labor. 
This  opportunity  has  been  only  in  part  seized  upon,  for  only  in  part 
have  these  Boards  had  the  Avisdom  and  the  vision  to  allow  their  Relief 
Law  a  reasonable  and  fair  operation. 

Charlotte    R.    Schmidlapp    Fund. 

Four  years  ago  this  month  I  Avandered  into  New  York,  practically 
without  friends  in  the  sociological-educational  world,  to  ask  your  ex- 
perts what  use  I  should  make  of  the  Schmidlapp  Memorial  Fund,  the 
responsibility  of  which  had  just  been  placed  upon  my  unwilling  shoul- 
ders. The  fund  had  been  given  a  year  before  by  Mr.  Schmidlapp,  in 
memory  of  his  daughter  Charlotte,  whose  life,  just  giving  promise 
of  a  strong,  earnest  womanhood,  had  been  suddenly  cut  off  by  an 
automobile  accident.  He  felt  that  in  some  w-ay  he  wished  her  life 
perpetuated  through  individual  lives,  and  to  this  end  without  further 
comment,  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  seven  Trustees,  securities  amount- 
ing to  $300,000.  I  came  to  the  East  in  a  somewhat  rebellious  frame  of 
mind  for  thus  being  staked  out  to  the  task  of  helping  merely  indi- 
viduals, which  seemed  most  unimportant  as  compared  to  the  world 
of  large  reforms  for  the  masses. 

It  is  needless  to  tell  you  that  I  found  the  advisers  I  sought,  many 
of  whom  are  before  me  tonight,  now  my  friends  whose  wise  counsel 
and  cordial  co-operation  have  helped  to  make  possible  the  beginning  we 
have  made.  Mrs.  Kelley'.s  exclamation,  "Thank  God — that  money 
wasn't  put  in  bricks  and  mortar,  and  don't  you  let  it  go  that  way — 
ever!"  made  me  decide  not  to  be  too  scornful  of  assisting  the  indi- 
vidual, which  decision  was  considerably  strengthened  by  the  opinion  of 
the  other  advisers  as  well. 

We  are  now  known  as  the  Schmidlapp  Bureau  for  Women  axd 
Girls,  with  three  departments : 

1.  Vocation  Department :  Issuance  of  age  and  schooling  cer- 
tificates, and  testing  of  children.  In  this  department  we  are  co-operat- 
ing with  Mr.  Clopper,  and  are  financing  one-half  of  the  undertaking. 
Of  this  you  have  heard  from  Mrs.  Woolley. 

2.  Employment  Department :  through  wliicli  women  and  girls 
secure  positions. 

3.  The  Charlotte  R.  Schmidlapp  Fund,  a  loan  fund  available  for 
educational  purposes.  This  is  the  original  gift,  the  income  of  which 
has  not  been  assessed  for  the  other  departments,  Mr.  Schmidlapp  per- 
sonally meeting  their  expenses.  An  abstract  of  the  Trust  Agreement, 
showing  that  only  part  of  the  income  is  available,  may  be  of  interest : — 


70  SCHOLARSHIPS 

licKinning  January  1st.  1908,  Three  Thousand  ($3,000)  dollars 
per  annum  of  the  net  income  shall  be  used  for  such  purpose,  the 
balance  of  the  income  to  be  added  to  the  principal.  The  amount 
of  th.'  income  to  be  applied  each  year  to  the  purpose  of  this  trust 
is  to  be  increased  at  the  rate  of  Five  Hundred  ($500)  dollars  per  year, 
until  the  amount  to  be  used  shall  reach  Six  Thousand  ($6,000)  dollars 
per  year,  after  which  the  amount  of  the  income  to  be  distributed  each 
year'  shall  not  be  increased  until  the  amount  of  the  principal  fund 
reaches  Four  Hundred  Thousand  ($400,000)  dollars,  after  which,  Ten 
Thousand  (SIO.OOO)  dollars  per  year  shall  be  distributed  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  trust,  and  thereafter,  as  the  principal  fund  is  increased 
by  One  Hundred  Thousand  ($100,000)  dollars,  the  amount  of  the 
income  distributed  shall  be  increased  by  Twenty-five  hundred  ($2,500) 
dollars.  In  each  case,  all  excess  of  income  over  the  amount  dis- 
tributed shall  be  added  to  the  principal  fund,  until  the  principal  fund 
shall  reach  the  sum  of  Two  Million  ($2,000,000)  dollars,  after  which 
the  Committee  may,  at  its  discretion,  distribute  the  total  annual  in- 
come thereof  as  herein  provided,  or  it  may  continue  to  increase  the 
amount  to  be  distributed  at  the  rate  of  Tw;enty-five  Hundred  ($2,500) 
dollars  per  year,  as  the  principal  fund  is  increased  by  One  Hundred 
Thousand  ($100,000)  dollars,  adding  the  surplus  income  from  year 
to  year  to  the  principal  fund. 
When  the  gift  first  became  known,  hundreds  of  letters  of  appeal 
were  received  from  all  over  the  country,  which  were  carefully  analyzed. 
Later  it  was  decided  that  beneficiaries  must  be  residents  of  Hamilton 
County,  and  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty-five  years. 

Excluding  these  miscellaneous  applications  just  mentioned,  from 
January,  1907,  to  June,  1912,  678  applications  have  been  received. 
The  classification  is  as  follows : 

General  Education    163 

Music     256 

Art   36 

Kindergarten    1 1 

Domestic    Science   , .      16 

Business    62 

Industrial     n 

Nurse's  Training 1 1 

Physical    Culture 9 

Medicine     2 

Dermatology 2 

Dentistry     j 

Pharmacy    j 

Dramatic  Expression    17 

Library    ^ 

Horticulture    j 

Telegraphy    j 

School  for  Salesmanship 2 

Missionary    ^ 

Financial   ^ 

Unclassified     "  ^^ 


SCHOLARSHIPS  71 

Of  these  applicants  60,  or  about  9  per  cent,  have  been  accepted  as 
beneficiaries;  about  10  per  cent,  have  not  yet  been  acted  upon;  over 
30  per  cent,  were  disquahfied,  either  by  age  or  place  of  residence ;  20 
per  cent,  have  withdrawn  or  failed  to  respond  to  communication  from 
the  office;  about  30  per  cent,  have  been  rejected.  Of  this  latter  group 
investigation  of  references  and  visits  to  the  home  have  disclosed  for 
some  cases  other  and  more  legitimate  avenues  of  assistance  than  the 
Fund.  In  other  cases,  the  impractical  nature  of  the  request  has  neces- 
sitated rejection. 

In  the  selection  of  the  beneficiaries,  health,  high  ambition,  earnest- 
ness of  purpose,  talent,  or  at  least  adaptability  for  the  work  desired, 
have  all  been  considered.  Personal  estimate  as  well  as  investigation  is 
an  important  factor  in  the  decision.  While  a  careful  follow-up  system 
has  been  attempted,  the  problems  confronting  the  fund, in  this  respect 
c.re  many.  For  we  believe  that  in  the  perfection  or  failure  of  such  .1 
system — one  of  constant  yet  unobtrusive  contact  with  the  girl,  one 
cf  wise  counsel,  and  of  strengthening,  not  vitiating  sympathy,  lies  the 
ability  or  inability  of  the  Fund  for  service. 

The  occurrence  of  three  deaths  among  our  beneficiaries  makes 
us  realize  that  greater  precaution  must  be  taken  against  overwork,  or 
a  more  rigid  physical  examination  must  be  required  before  acceptance. 

The  probation  of  younger  girls  before  final  selection  is  seriously 
considered,  with  possibly  more  attention  given  along  the  line  of  voca- 
tional guidance,  for  those  whose  schemes  seem  unpractical,  but  where 
enthusiasm  and  determination  are  too  deep-seated  to  be  disregarded. 
While  this  impractical  girl — sometimes  the  artist  or  musician — often 
tries  our  souls  beyond  endurance,  yet,  she  has  been  of  inestimable  help 
in  broadening  our  own  point  of  view,  and  in  teaching  us  how  to  in- 
culcate in  the  staid,  practical  girl  some  of  the  spirit  that  makes  the 
difficult  road  of  the  genius  one  of  joy  and  gladness. 

We  are  also  watching  with  great  care  and  some  anxiety,  the  effect 
i.pon  the  applicant  and  beneficiary  of  the  loan  obligation,  which  is  as 
shown  on  the  next  page  (72)  : 

So  far  experience  has  seemed  to  indicat^hat  if  the  fund  were  not 
known  as  a  loan  fund,  we  would  not  receive  many  of  the  applications 
that  come  from  proud,  self-respecting  and  independent  girls.  Many 
college  scholarships,  it  is  true,  are  not  loans,  and  a  fund  such  as  the 
Schmidlapp  Fund  might  be  administered  on  a  similar  basis.  But  these 
college  scholarships  are,  so  far  as  we  know,  given  purely  as  a  reward 
for  class  standing.  We  have  no  definite  standard  of  ability,  and  hence 
cur  relationship  with  the  beneficiary  seems  in  every  way  more  satis- 
factorily adjusted,  if  the  financial  assistance  is  handled  as  a  business 
matter. 


SCHOLARSHIPS 


Cincinnati,  Ohio, 191 

.N^  v.M.u  after  completing  my  studies,  as  I  can  do  so,  without 
deprivinv;  myself  or  those  dependent  upon  me  of  the  reasonable 
cointorts  of  life  I  promise  to  pay  to 

THE     UNION     SAVINGS     BANK     &     TRUST     CO.,     as 

TRUSTEE  of  THE  CHARLOTTE  R.  SCHMIDLAPP 

FUND, 

the  amount  advanced  to  me  by  it  from  said  Fund,  to  assist  nie 
in  my  education,  aggregating 
Dollars 

assuming  however,  no  legal  obligation  hereunder,  but  desiring 
if  I  am  able,  to  assist  in  giving  the  same  benefits  to  others,  that 
1    liave  myself  enjoyed. 

Beneficiary 


The  consensus  of  opinion  of  those  who  administered  college 
scholarships — not  loans — has  been  that  they  have  not  been  as  fruitful 
as  hoped  for  in  the  one  greatly  to  be  desired  result,  namely,  the  forma- 
tion of  independent,  self-reliant  manhood  or  womanhood.  Such  an 
opinion  only  justifies  the  more  our  experiment  with  the  loan  as  an 
clement. 

We  have  expended  in  individual  loans  during  the  four  years 
515,923.00,  classified  as  follows: — * 

University  and  College $5,005.00 

High  School 2,950.00 

^lusic     2,590.00 

■^rt  990.00 

Kindergarten    1,550.00 

Domestic    Science  1,525.00 

Business    388.00 

Dramatic  Expression 400.00 

Physical  Culture    300.00 

Medicine   22"" .00 

Besides  this  amount  we  have  disbursed  $2,989.25  from  private 
subscriptions.  This  co-operation  of  individuals  with  the  work  of  the 
Fundhas  greatly  interested  us.  Men  to  whom  application  for  assist- 
ance IS  made,  often  send  the  application  or  applicant  to  us  for  mvesti- 
gation,  saying  that  if  we  approve  the  request,  the  assistance  will  be 
given,  and  m  many  instances  we  are  requested  to  handle  the  amount 
of  money  needed  for  the  applicant.  This,  of  course,  we  are  more  than 
giaa  to  do.    A  group  of  men  have  in  two  instances  guaranteed  to  pay 

-f  thrrSlnd'  ^^"''''  ^'^   ^'■°"'  '"^^   memoranda,  not  audited  by  treasurer 


SCHOLARSHIPS  73 

the  expenses  of  students  abroad,  provided  they  could  secure  from  the 
Schmidlapp  Fund  an  amount — no  matter  how  small — which  would 
show  the  endorsement  of  the  Fund. 

In  this  connection  some  mention  should  be  made  of  the  co-opera- 
tion we  have  received  from  educational  institutions,  which  have  again 
and  again  at  the  expense  of  time  and  money  been  of  great  help  to  our 
beneficiaries. 

Whether  or  not  a  private  fund  can  be  administered  to  the  end  of 
rendering  as  great  or  greater  service  than  a  State  or  public  fund, 
or  a  college  fund  could  render,  is  a  question  prominently  before  us. 
The  disadvantage  of  a  college  fund  is  that  given  to  a  specific  institu- 
tion, often  for  a  specific  purpose,  it  may  outlive  its  usefulness.  The 
institution  may  lower  its  standard,  may  change  its  character  and  aim ; 
the  endowment  of  a  special  course  of  study  because  of  the  rapid 
changes  constantly  taking  place  in  the  educational  world,  may  prove 
an  embarrassment  to  the  institution  and  be  of  no  value  to  the  student. 
The  private  fund  can  never  be  so  limited  and  hampered. 

There  is  also  a  great  advantage  in  handling  from  one  center 
students  attending  institutions  representing  every  kind  of  training  and 
education.  The  comparison  of  institutions,  the  stimulation  of  different 
ambitions,  the  constant  inspiration  of  individual  initiatives  and 
i^truggle,  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  broad,  helpful  administration,  as 
well  as  prevent  duplication  of  effort. 

Hence,  humbly  conscious  of  our  failures,  but  now  deeply  con- 
scious of  the  possibilities,  the  privileges,  and  the  joys  of  serving  indi- 
vidual needs,  the  Schmidlapp  Fund  hopes  to  offer  "a  projection  into 
the  future,"  a  body  of  thoughtful,  earnest,  adequately  trained  young 
women — young  women  who,  knowing  the  secret  of  work,  but  not 
overpowered  by  the  seriousness  and  feverishness  of  life,  will  be  able 
to  contribute  their  share  of  the  steadying  influence  which  will  be 
needed  to  guide  to  a  safe  haven  the  present  storm-threatened  ship  or 
womanhood. 


The  Chair,man  :  We  have  another  scholarship  fund,  the  virtue  of 
which  is  its  intensive  work.  The  Child  Labor  Committee's  scholar- 
ships, as  Mr.  Arnstein  pointed  out,  are  carefully  limited  to  children 
who  are  within  the  child  labor  restrictions  of  the  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion Law,  children  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age  who  arc 
kept  in  school  and  whose  hardships,  if  they  suffer  hardships,  are  due 
to  that  particular  statute.  Now,  this  second  fund  has  to  do  with  chil- 
dren who  are  out  of  school,  have  finished  the  requirements  of  the 


SCHOLARSHIPS 

-di-ui  ^vMcm,  and  are  in  need  of  further  help  either  because  they  are 
cxccpiionally  gifted,  or  because  they  are  insufficiently  gifted,  the  idea 
being  to  reinforce  the  parent  in  one  case,  and  to  make  up  in  some  small 
ccgree  that  which  nature  has  denied,  in  the  other  case. 

Miss  Pauline  Goldmark,  who  is  acquainted  with  the  work  of 
lH>th  committees,  will  be  the  next  speaker. 


SOME     SCHOOL     AND     VOCATIONAL     SCHOLARSHIPS 
IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Pauline   Goldmark 
Executive  Secretary  Consumers'  League,  New  York 

The  scholarships  given  by  the  New  York  Child  Labor  Committee 
must  be  clearly  distinguished  from  vocational  scholarships,  which  are 
granted  by  various  other  organizations  or  groups  of  persons.  It  has 
already  been  explained  this  evening  that  the  Child  Labor  Committee 
gives  its  scholarships  for  one  specific  purpose,  namely :  To  help 
families  in  need  to  keep  their  children-  in  school  until  they  have  ful- 
Tilled  all  the  requirements  of  the  compulsory  education  law. 

The  vocational  scholarship  has  an  entirely  different  purpose.  It  is 
intended  to  provide  special  education  and  training  to  fit  boys  and  girls 
for  their  future  work,  when  their  parents  cannot  afford  to  give  them 
these  advantages. 

Such  vocational  scholarships  are  the  necessary  corollary  of  our 
recent  studies  of  industry.  .Stated  briefly,  it  has  been  found  that  the 
occupations  which  most  children  enter  between  the  ages  of  fourteen 
and  sixteen  have  absolutely  no  educational  value.  The  conditions 
which  are  now  knowm  to  exist  in  practically  every  industry  or  occu- 
pation conclusively  prove  this  statement.  These  children  are  set  at 
jobs  that  lead  nowhere.  The  English  have  long  since  called  them 
•  dead  end"  or  "blind  alley"  occupations. 

Certainly  all  of  our  new  knowledge  points  to  the  fact  that  the 
mdustries  do  not  develop  or  train  their  young  workers. 

Moreover,  nothing  more  haphazard  can  be  imagined  than  the 
employment  of  these  new  recruits  to  the  industrial  army.  Tliey  ob- 
tam  positions  through  advertisements  or  on  a  recommendation  of 
friends.  His  first  employment,  no  doubt,  appeals  to  the  child's  imagina- 
tion and  to  his  desire  for  freedom,  but  he  soon  learns  that  employmeni 
oflfers  little  but  monotony  and  restraint.  As  a  result  the  children  flit 
from  job  to  job.     We  have  the  instance  of  one  child  who  had  ten 


SCHOLARSHIPS  T6 

positions  in  ten  months,  and  this  is  by  no  means  an  exceptional  case. 
Such  roving  children  soon  lose  all  constancy  of  purpose,  as  well  as  all 
ambition.  Under  present  conditions,  these  two  years  of  a  child's  life 
are  worse  than  wasted,  for  the  demoralization  of  such  work  under- 
mines his  moral  as  well  as  his  physical  stamina.  These  facts  can 
lead  us  to  only  one  conclusion,— namely,  that  we  must  have  concerted 
action  in  keeping  children  out  of  all  paid  occupations  until  they  are 
sixteen  years  old.  It  is  a  short-sighted  policy  for  any  community  to 
I'llow  its  children  to  waste  these  two  precious  years  of  their  life. 

Surely  this  line  new  movement  of  vocational  guidance  must  take 
r.  firm  stand  on  this  ground  and  publish  as  a  cardinal  principle:  No 
placements  of  any  children  under  sixteen  years ! 

Then,  at  least,  there  will  be  time  for  some  systematic  attempts  to 
fit  these  young  children  for  their  jobs  and  to  develop  their  innate 
capacity  for  some  particular  work.  To-day  we  are  more  than  ever 
convinced  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  school  to  provide  such  training. 

As  I  take  it,  the  vocational  guidance  bureaus  have  set  before  them- 
selves a  two-fold  task.  In  the  first  place,  that  of  giving  advice  as  to  a 
vocation  based  upon  a  thorough  understanding  of  a  child's  particular 
nptitude,  and  second,  that  of  giving  directions  how  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary training  as  for  as  the  present  schools  provide  it. 

But  those  who  know  the  dire  poverty  that  drives  young  children 
to  work  will  ask  the  question:  "Is  it  not  useless  to  advise,  if  the 
children  cannot  follow  the  instructions?"  What  if  any  of  the 
children  are  indispensable  to  their  families  and  therefore  barred  from 
securing  the  necessary  training?  Herein  lies  the  great  value  of  the 
scholarship.  It  enables  the  children  who  could  be  deprived  of  these 
advantages  to  prepare  themselves  to  some  degree  at  least  for  their 
future  work.  Handicapped  as  they  are  by  poverty,  they  particularly 
need  the  training  that  will  ultimately  add  to  their  wage-earning  capa- 
city. 

Fortunately  vocational  scholarships  are  not  entirely  visionary,  for 
various  groups  of  persons  have  been  laboriously  securing  the  necessary 
funds  and  working  out  methods  for  more  adequately  fitting  children 
for  their  future  work.  And  further  they  have  watched  their  proteges 
through  these  critical  years  of  their  development  and  learned  much 
as  to  the  ultimate  benefit  of  such  help. 

The  scholarships  of  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  were  among  the 
first  to  be  granted  and  are  still  continued  by  the  Students'  Aid  Fund. 
This  is  made  up  by  private  contributions  and  is  privately  administered 
to  enable  children  of  needy  parents  to  attend  the  ^lanhattan  Trade 
School.     These  scholarships  run  from  50  cents  to  $2.00  a  week  and 


7(5  SCHOLARSHIPS 

arc  iniciuled  to  cover  carfare  and  luncheon  and  leave  a  little  balance 
tor  general  expenses.  Fifteen  social  settlements  are  represented  on  the 
Board  and  discuss  each  case  before  a  scholarship  is  awarded.  The 
^ociaI  settlements  have  a  general  oversight  over  the  girls  who  live  near 
them  and  try  to  keep  track  of  their  families.  From  seventy-five  to 
tiijhtY-five  girls  out  of  a  total  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  attending  the 
school  receive  these  scholarships.  The  expenses  amount  to  $7,500 
a  year,  including  administrative  expenses.  The  girls  stay  at  the 
school  for  various  lengths  of  time,  varying  from  six  months  to  two 
years,  and  afterwards  obtain  their  jobs  through  the  Placement  De- 
partment. There  is  no  doubt  that  these  scholarships  fill  a  great  need 
and  have  enabled  hundreds  of  girls  to  be  placed  in  more  advantageous 
positions  than  they  could  possibly  have  obtained  without  the  trade 
training  obtained  in  the  school. 

No  conclusive  proof  however  has  yet  been  offered  to  show  how 
much  the  condition  of  the  girls  have  been  improved  by  such  training. 
The  results  obtained  by  another  committee,  namely,  The  Committee 
for  \'ocational  Scholarships  of  the  Henry  Street  Settlement,  are  far 
more  definitely  known.  This  Committee  has  been  at  work  for  five  years 
and  has  been  working  out  an  experiment  of  exceptional  value.  Its  value 
IS  much  greater  than  mere  numbers  would  indicate,  on  account  of  the 
excellent  judgment  and  care  with  which  the  work  has  been  done, 
liighty-one  children  have  thus  far  been  assisted.  The  Committee 
awards  weekly  scholarships  to  a  few  carefully  selected  children  who 
could  not  otherwise  spend  the  years  between  fourteen  and  sixteen 
in  definite  trade  or  professional  training.  The  Committee,  beside.;, 
has  kept  a  careful  record  concerning  the  home  of  the  child,  its  school 
record  and  finally  of  its  trade  history  after  placement.  Nowhere  else 
in  New  York  have  scholarships  been  granted  with  such  care,  and  the 
oversight  of  the  boys  and  girls  been  so  continuous  and  complete.  The 
mtimate  personal  relationship  between  the  children  and  the  secretary 
of  the  Committee  has  enabled  her  to  understand  the  natural  aptitude 
of  each  child  and  to  give  it  an  opportunity  to  develop  under  appro- 
priate training. 

Every  settlement  worker  who  has  come  into  personal  contact  with 
girls  and  boys  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  finds  the 
task  of  obtaining  proper  employment  for  these  children  a  most  baflfling 
problem.  She  feels  with  peculiar  poignancy  the  abrupt  transition  of 
her  young  charges  from  a  sheltered  school  life  to  the  deadening  routine 
of  work  u  ;nn,„n  the  possibility  of  developing  anv  natural  talents  or 
aptitudes 

The  Henry  Street  Scholarships  were  first  established  to  meet  this 
need.  Thev  ur-r.  c^jven  to  children  in  the  settlement  clubs  on  account  of 


SCHOLARSHIPS  77 

the  immediate  appeal  these  children  made  upon  the  interest  of  their 
Club  leaders.  Later  the  scholarships  became  better  known  and  were 
awarded  to  children  from  other  parts  of  the  city,  if  they  had  any 
marked  aptitude  that  could  be  developed,  or  else,  in  certain  cases,  a 
marked  deficiency  that  would  have  condemned  them  to  life-long  ex- 
ploitation in  the  ranks  of  the  underpaid. 

The  amount  of  these  scholarships  varies  from  $i.oo  to  $3.00  a 
week,  according  to  the  need  of  the  family.  This  means  a  steady  in- 
come, instead  of  the  intermittent  earnings  that  the  child  might  have 
earned.    It  amounts  to  a  maximum  of  $150.00  a  year. 

The  secretary  of  the  Committee  has  a  personal  interview  once  a 
week  with  each  child.  She  keeps  fully  informed  as  to  his  progress  in 
school  and  follows  up  any  difficulties  at  home  that  may  interfere  with 
his  advancement.  She  has  such  a  close  knowledge  of  the  child's  abil- 
ities and  ambitions  that  she  is  fitted  to  act  as  his  advisor.  Moreover, 
by  careful  inquiry  she  keeps  herself  informed  of  the  best  trade  openings 
for  children  sixteen  years  of  age. 

She  has  been  able  to  place  twenty-three  children  with  such  good 
judgment  that  the  present  showing  as  to  the  wages  and  possibilities 
of  advance  of  these  children  is  a  most  convincing  one,  for  the  earn- 
mgs  are  far  above  the  usual  initial  wage.  Here  are  a  few  instances : 
The  first  scholarship  was  given  after  careful  investigation,  in  1907, 
to  a  girl  who  was  working  in  a  small  grocery  shop.  She  had  shown 
marked  artistic  ability,  but  her  small  wage  was  sorely  needed  by  her 
family,  and  she  had  left  school  the  moment  the  law  permitted.  The 
Scholarship  Committee  awarded  her  $3.00  a  week  for  two  years,  so 
that  she  could  attend  High  School  and  specialize  in  art  work.  She 
is  now  earning  $12.00  a  week  in  a  house  which  does  costume  designing 
and  interior  decorating.  She  has  steady  work  and  opportunity  for 
advancement.  Another  scholarship  was  given  to  a  boy  who  was  run- 
ning errands  in  a  small  jewelry  shop.  He  was  advised  to  attend  the 
Commercial  High  School.  On  leaving  school  he  obtained  a  position  in 
a  bank  and  is  now  earning  $12.00  a  week  with  promotion  in  sight.  A 
boy  who  had  been  in  this  country  but  three  years  had  been  obliged 
to  go  to  work  on  account  of  his  father's  illness.  A  scholarship  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  return  to  school  and  graduate,  and  then  to  attend 
the  Vocational  School  for  boys.  Here  he  learned  the  printing  trade 
and  now,  after  being  at  work  nine  months,  he  is  earning  $9.00  a  week. 
Several  boys  and  girls  are  receiving  $12.00  and  $15.00  a  week,  and  one 
girl  earns  $18.00  a  week. 

The  committee  is  now  giving  scholarships  to  fifty  children  and  is 
leady  to  expand  its  work,  if  the  necessary  funds  are  forthcoming. 

The  peculiar  value  of  this  experiment  lies  in  the  conclusive  proof 


fg  SCHOLARSHIPS 

it  offers  that  education  continued  up  to  the  sixteenth  year  really  pays. 
Tlie  industries  as  they  now  exist,  are  not  fit  for  younger  children,  and 
vo.-ational  guidance  will  not  make  them  so.  It  is  only  by  training 
the  children  to  till  the  better  paid  positions  that  require  some  skill  and 
aptitude  that  our  industrial  standards  can  be  raised  with  benefit, 
both  to  the  children  and  the  industries. 

It  is  a  strange  anomaly  that  scholarships  and  fellowships  for  so- 
called  "higher"  education  should  be  so  thoroughly  approved  by  public 
sentiment  and  granted  by  practically  every  college  in  the  country, 
while  there  is  so  little  interest  in  scholarships  for  elementary  instruc- 
tion. In  fact,  many  objections  have  had  to  be  overcome  and  the  funds 
for  these  scholarships  are  still  so  meagre,  and  the  public  so  grudging 
in  its  support,  that  we  are  indebted  to  a  few  persons  only  for  the  where- 
withal to  try  the  first  experiments.  But  the  significance  of  the  move- 
ment is  beginning  to  be  recognized  and  is  inspiring  the  help  of  dif- 
ferent groups  of  persons.  One  of  the  encouraging  indications  is  the 
recent  action  of  the  students  of  several  women's  colleges  in  raising  a 
fund  for  such  vocational  scholarships  dedicated  by  these  young  college 
girls  to  their  sisters  entering  industry. 


The  Chairman  :  Before  introducing  the  last  speaker,  I  wish  to 
call  attention  to  one  feature  of  the  Henry  Street  settlement  scholar- 
ships, which  is  this,  that  after  the  children  have  reached  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  after  they  have  been  most  carefully  watched  and  their 
families  visited  throughout  the  two  years  that  they  are  under  training, 
a  careful  scrutiny  of  the  places  into  which  the  children  go  to  work  is 
maintained.  Quite  astonishing  results  accrue  to  the  children  from  their 
two  years'  training  and  this  continuing  contact  on  the  part  of  the  very 
able,  conscientious  secretary,  Miss  Margaret  Brown,  with  the  em- 
ployers. Those  advantages  surely  would  not  accrue  if  the  children 
were  simply  given  care  while  in  school,  given  guidance  while  in  school, 
and  then  allowed  to  shift  for  themselves,  as  children  are  who  go  out  of 
school  from  the  eighth  grade  when  they  do  not  have  this  kind  of  super- 
vision. I  believe  that  the  continuing  personal  supervision  of  the  secre- 
tary, after  the  children  leave  school,  counts  nearly  as  much  as  all 
that  is  done  with  them  while  they  are  in  school.  I  could  give  examples 
of  children  who  on  being  placed  have  made  a  good  start  in  an  es- 
tablishment, who  have  been  well  fitted  for  that  establishment  and  that 
particular  industry  by  their  work  in  the  school  and  then,  because  of 
some  entirely  incidental  thing  which  has  happened,  would  have  lost 
ihfir  fir.t  valuable  position  if  it  had  not  been  for  this  continuing  care. 


SCHOLARSHIPS  79 

Ordinarily  when  scholarships  are  created,  there  is  no  provision  for 
that.  This  seems  to  be  a  grave  defect  in  most  discussions  of  this  sub- 
ject. To  take  two  concrete  instances:  In  one,  a  girl  who  was  doing 
well  suddenly  lapsed  and  lost  her  interest  in  her  work,  and  would  have 
lost  her  job,  but  the  personal  inquiry  of  the  secretary  revealed  grave 
illness  at  home,  which  being  cared  for,  made  it  possible  for  the  girl 
to  collect  her  wits  and  go  on  well  as  she  had  done  before.  In  another 
case,  a  boy  lapsed  while  at  school  from  working  well  to  doing  work  so 
poor  that  the  principal  was  on  the  point  of  dropping  him.  Investiga- 
tion showed  that  the  father  was  ill  with  tuberculosis,  that  the  physi- 
cian had  recommended  that  he  should  have  an  increase  in  his  diet,  and 
in  order  to  furnish  the  money  for  that  the  two  older  children,  this  boy 
and  a  sister,  were  going  without  breakfast;  and  it  was  hunger  and 
exhaustion  which  made  the  boy  incapable  of  doing  good  work. 

Merely  giving  children  scholarships,  unless  they  are  given  con- 
tinuing care,  may  do  little  good.  I  have  long  believed  that  we  should 
come  to  that,  that  we  should  give  scholarships  wholesale,  precisely  as 
we  furnish  the  children  with  books,  instruction  and  opportunity.  But 
the  more  I  have  to  do  with  the  administration  of  these  two  committees, 
the  more  clear  it  becomes  that  we  have  got  to  look  after  the  bread- 
winner and  enable  the  bread-winner  to  look  after  his  own.  Meanwhile 
this  kind  of  work  must  be  done  in  the  most  intensive  way  if  it  is  to  be 
worth  doing  at  all. 


SUMMARY 

Miss  Lillian  D.  Wald 
Head  Resident,  Henry  Street  Settlement,  New  York 

I  am  not  vain  enough  to  think  that  I  can  add  anything  of  value 
to  this  discussion;  and  I  feel  somewhat  embarrassed  this  evening,  be- 
cause I  cannot  very  well  summarize  the  papers  which  I  have  not  heard. 
But  I  do  not  think  there  can  be  any  very  great  diversity  of  opinion 
here. 

We  have  in  this  great  city  eight  hundred  thousand  ciiildren  in 
the  public  schools.  Mrs.  Kelley  has  probably  given  you  to-night  the 
statistics  of  children  who  have  applied  for  working  papers.  A  great 
many  are  handicapped  by  poverty,  by  home  conditions,  and  by  insuffi- 
cient school  education.  It  is  my  belief  that  the  children  of  the  poor 
are  less  able  to  enter  the  world,  to  enter  factories,  to  become  inde- 
pendent workers  at  fourteen  than  are  the  children  of  the  well-to-do. 
A  tremendous  amount  of  education  goes  on  in  the  ordinary  home, 


gQ  SCHOLARSHIPS 

the  education  of  travel,  of  conversation,  familiarity  with  the  tele- 
phone conversation  at  the  table,  exchange  of  letters,  educative  things 
which  we  do  not  ordinarily  appreciate  because  we  are  so  accustomed 
to  thoni.  In  the  homes  of  people  under  economic  pressure,  where 
perhaps  the  father  and  mother  both  work  long  hours,  this  education 
is  not  given  to  the  children.  These  children  are  further  handicapped 
when  they  enter  the  labor  world,  a  labor  world  that  is  already  glutted 
witli  the  unskilled,  to  which  they  are  going  to  add.  And  it  is  up  to 
us  to  minimize  their  handicap  as  far  as  possible ;  and  whether  we  agree 
as  to  the  method  or  not,  I  am  quite  sure  that  very  few  people  would 
dispute  the  advisability  from  economic  and  humane  reasons,  of  mak- 
ing up  to  the  child  what  he  and  she  have  lost  through  no  fault  of  then- 
own,  what  he  and  she  have  never  had  through  no  fault  of  their  own. 
I  think  we  are  bound  to  afford  that  additional  two  years'  education 
and  training  until  such  time  as  we  are  civilized  enough  to  recognize 
that  a  child  is  not  fit  to  take  his  fortune  in  his  hands  at  fourteen. 

We  are  recognizing  the  change  in  literature.  I  do  not  believe 
many  stories  are  written  for  the  children  now  showing  how  care  and 
economy,  untying  of  strings,  saving  of  the  wrapping  paper,  will  insure 
the  boy's  entering  into  future  partnership,  and  marrying  the  daughter 
of  the  boss.  I  think  we  do  realize  that  the  little  child  enters  as  ^. 
machine — a  part  of  a  machine — and  a  machine  that  has  not  been 
ciled,  has  not  been  prepared,  and  that  in  consequence  soon  becomes 
rusty  and  is  thrown  on  the  scrap  heap.  And  I  therefore  feel  that,  as 
a  result  of  the  various  experiences  we  have  had,  in  aiding  the  child 
to  a  vocational  training, — experiences  which  are  too  few  in  this 
country — we  should  stimulate  the  public  to  a  realization  of  the  need 
of  more  ample  protection  and  help  to  the  children  at  the  bottom  rung, 
who  cannot  avail  themselves  of  such  opportunities  as  exist.  Whether 
we  shall  push  energetically  for  the  giving  of  scholarships  by  the 
schools  or  by  private  philanthropy,  is  not  of  so  much  consequence  as 
the  fact  that  we  recognize  that  the  children  do  need  to  be  carried  over 
these  two  years,  two  important  years  for  them  both  as  children  and 
as  future  citizens. 

Miss  Goldmark  referred  with  pleasure  to  the  acts  of  the  college 
girls  who  were  recognizing  the  claims  of  their  little  sisters.  It  has 
always  been  a  source  of  gratification  to  us  that  the  young  men  of  the 
clubs  of  the  Settlement  recognize  and  appreciate  the  importance  of 
helping  children  along.  Early  in  our  experience  in  scholarship  work, 
four  of  the  scholarships  came  from  the  young  men  of  one  of  the 
dubs,  young  men  who  themselves  had  had  a  hard  time,  and  who 
appreciated  and  understood  the  difficulties  of  obtaining  employment 
without  training  or  equipment.    I  do  not  think  it  is  sufficient  to  follow 


SCHOLARSHIPS  81 

tip  the  work  of  the  children  even  though  it  be  done  as  thoroughly 
as  it  is  by  the  scholarship  committee  to  which  Mrs.  Kelley  referred  ; 
I  do  not  think  it  is  sufficient  to  do  that.  I  think  it  is  most  important 
that  people  should  thoroughly  know  the  trades  into  which  the  children 
are  advised  to  go.  No  casual  or  hearsay  knowledge  is  sufficient. 
Everybody  who  takes  upon  himself  the  authority  to  advise  the  chil- 
dren is  morally  bound  to  understand  the  conditions,  the  opportunities, 
the  requirements  of  the  trades  which  the  children  enter. 

I  do  not  know  what  more  I  can  add.  If  I  had  heard  the  papers, 
perhaps  we  might  have  had  a  more  exciting  summary  than  this.  I 
can  only  give  my  own  convictions  after  some  years  of  experience  and 
a  very  profound  interest  in  this  subject. 


SESSION    OF    FRIDAY    AFTERNOON,    OCTOBER    25 
At   Teachers'   College 

CONFERENCE     ON     VOCATIONAL     ANALYSIS 

Chairman,  Dr.  Stuart  H.  Rowe 
Principal.  Wadleigh  High  School,  New  York 

As  we  have  been  already  troubled  with  some  delay,  I  hasten  to 
{,l>en  this  conference,  and  in  opening  it  will  simply  refer  to  the  fact 
that  in  a  sense  we  are  carrying  out  a  dream  of  some  years  ago,  a  dream 
whicli  came  to  me  in  connection  with  the  Chicago  Exposition.  It  was 
my  lot  (luring  a  portion  of  the  Exposition  to  take  charge  of  what  was 
called  a  psychological  laboratory.  At  that  Exposition  the  apparatus 
for  making  sixty  tests,  mental  tests,  had  been  set  up  and  people 
willing  to  pay  the  fee  were  put  through  these  tests.  The  one  who  had 
gone  through  the  sixty  experiments  received  a  blank  which  indicated 
his  degree  of  proficiency,  in  many  cases  compared  with  a  previously 
established  normal.  There  were  all  sorts  of  tests  involved,  the  ordi- 
rary  tests  of  the  senses,  color  and  preference,  association,  motor  tests, 
tests  for  visualization  and  imagination,  tests  of  judgment,  tests  under 
various  conditions,  and  these  tests  were  taken  by  professional  and 
business  men,  representing  almost  every  calling,  not  to  mention  a 
great  many  women  and  a  fairly  large  sprinkling  of  children.  We 
had — not  the  Contributing  Editor  of  The  Outlook,  but  we  had  one  of 
the  other  editors  of  The  Outlook;  we  had  the  members  of  various 
publishing  houses,  and  all  seemed  to  be  interested.  The  question  which 
came  to  the  fore  very  often  was,  to  what  extent  you  think  you  could 
lell  from  these  experiments  what  my  boy  ought  to  do.  Mothers 
came  with  high  hopes.  Presumably  they  were  fed  by  the  promises 
of  phrenologists  for  years  that  they  could  do  this  sort  of  thing,  and 
they  thought  what  phrenology  had  been  able  to  do  apparently,  the  new 
psychology  ought  to  be  able  to  do.  The  persistence  with  which  that 
question  came  up  led  me  at  that  time,  and  has  led  me  often  since,  to 
wonder  what  the  possibilities  were  of  analyzing  the  mental  equipment 
of  a  student  and  finding  out,  at  least  in  some  vague  \vay,  some  of  the 
things  for  which  he  perhaps  was  especially  well  fitted,  and  some  of 
the  vocations  for  which  he  was  perhaps  especially  unfitted. 

I  suspect  that  it  is  possible  by  some  mental  test-mental  and  physical 
tests— to  determine,  for  example,  whether  an  individual  could  make 
good  as  a  telephone  operator;  I  suspect  that  it  is  possible  by  some  tests 
to  determine  whether  certain  students  are  going  to  be  very  brilliant 

82 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS  83 

as  clerical  assistants;  I  suspect  that  we  could  tell  by  other  tests  whether 
it  was  best  for  certain  students  to  devote  themselves  to  finer  work, — 
to  the  machinery  which  required  fine  adaptation  and  exacted  the 
penalty  of  the  loss  of  a  finger  or  other  serious  injury  to  the  operator 
v/ho  was  careless  or  unskillful.  The  more  complicated  the  voca- 
tion, I  suspect  the  less  we  can  be  assured  in  advance  by  any  test  that  the 
boy  or  girl  is  not  fitted  for  it,  or  is  fitted  for  it.  There  are,  too,  probably 
some  special  points  of  fitness  and  certain  general  qualifications  which 
many  students  have,  and,  apparently,  although  I  may  not  be  able  to  re- 
port very  authoritative  figures  on  this  point,  there  seem  to  be  data 
which  would  indicate  that  the  student  who  is  especially  quick  in  particu- 
lar fields,  is  likely  to  be  rather  quick  in  most  fields.  He  is  likely  to  make 
a  success  in  a  number  of  particulars.  Further  I  suspect,  to  use  the  same 
word — because  I  cannot  do  more  than  suspect — that  those  students 
who  are  particularly  sluggish  and  slow  are  likely  to  be  less  fit  in  a 
number  of  fields  where  quickness  is  an  essential. 

We  have  now  psychological  tests  capable  of  securing  accurate 
data;  we  have  the  general  knowledge  of  the  methods — scientific 
methods — of  attack  upon  psychological  problems;  we  seem  to  be  at 
the  very  starting  point  of  a  determined  investigation  in  certain  lines. 
I  am  hoping  that  this  convention,  this  conference  this  afternoon  may 
at  least  get  the  field  before  us,  may  give  us  some  idea  of  the  work 
already  attempted,  and  may  point  out  what  the  wisest  next  moves  are 
in  extending  the  field. 

I  think  of  our  modern  psychologists  as  people  who  are  looking  for 
trouble.  I  say  this  with  due  hesitation  in  deference  to  the  distinguished 
psychologists  present.  It  seems  to  me  if  they  do  want  trouble,  they 
certainly  have  an  opportunity  for  plenty  of  it  here, — trouble  to  un- 
limited extent  in  two  quite  different  fields.  In  the  first  place,  you  have 
the  necessity  of  attacking  all  the  different  vocations  and  determining 
the  psychological  requirements  of  these  vocations;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  you  have  the  psychology  of  the  individual  so  to  study  that  you 
can  determine  the  qualifications  or  fitness  for  any  given  vocation.  The 
field  is  large  enough,  I  think  you  admit. 

We  have  with  us  Dr.  Woolley — -Mrs.  Woolley — who  is  one  of 
those  who  have  studied  psychologically  some  of  the  facts  involved  in 
our  problem.  Mrs.  Woolley  will  address  us  on  "The  Psychological 
Laboratory  as  an  Adjunct  to  a  Vocational  Bureau." 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY  AS  AN  ADJUNCT 
TO   A   VOCATIONAL   BUREAU 

Dr.  Helen  T.  Woolley 

Director  of  the  Vocational  Bureau,  Cincinnati 

About  a  year  ago  I  was  engaged  in  an  experiment  of  which  I 
hesitate  to  tell  in  these  halls,  because  I  am  very  sure  that  it  would  be 
frowned  upon  by  a  great  many  people  here  present.  But  what 
1  was  doing  was  teaching  a  child  of  four  years  to  read,  and  I  was 
succeeding  fairly  well.  Her  favorite  piece  of  literature  at  that  time 
was  Alice  in  Wonderland,  and  whenever  I  suggested  reading,  she 
alwavs  insisted  on  reading  Alice  in  Wonderland.  She  knew  a  few 
words,  and  she  knew  most  of  Alice  in  Wonderland  by  heart.  By 
means  of  a  little  assistance  and  a  prodigious  amount  of  memory  she 
was  able  to  read  page  after  page  of  the  book.  She  was  reading 
one  day  when  she  came  to  the  word  "curiosity."  She  stumbled 
over  it  a  bit,  and  then  she  looked  up  and  said:  "Mother,  do  you 
know,  the  words  curiosity  and  interrupt  go  acros  s  my  mind 
like  a  horse  and  wagon."  Now,  I  think  the  phrases  "psychological 
laboratory"  and  "vocational  bureau"  are  going  across  my  mind  like 
a  horse  and  wagon,  and  I  don't  know  that  I  feel  very  competent  to 
get  rid  of  that  cumbersome  and  clamorous  load,  but  I  will  at  least 
make  an  attempt. 

I  should  say  that  the  function  of  a  psychological  laboratory  as 
part  of  a  vocation  bureau  depends  partly  upon  the  kind  of  voca- 
tion bureau.  It  depends  also,  of  course,  upon  the  kind  of  psychological 
laboratory.  But  we  will  let  that  go  for  the  present,  and  try  to  make 
a  distinction  between  two  types  of  vocation  bureaus.  There  is  in 
the  first  place,  the  independent  bureau  whose  function  is  merely 
to  give  vocational  assistance  to  any  individual  v/ho  happens  to  cail 
for  it,  such  a  bureau  as  a  settlement  or  a  Christian  Association  might 
conduct,  where  the  class  of  individuals  who  come  is  quite  intermediate, 
and,  in  the  second  place,  a  vocation  bureau  which  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  public  school  system,  and  which  is  intended  to  apply,  therefore, 
to  a  fairly  uniform  and  continuous  class  of  individuals,  namely,  school 
children.  Now,  I  think  the  function  of  a  psychological  laboratory 
in  these  two  cases  is  quite  different,  and  I  would  like  to  discuss  the 
two  separately. 

I  will  take  up  first  the  question  as  to  the  part  a  psychological 
iiiboratory  ought  to  play  in  a  vocation  bureau  which  is  part  of  a  pub- 
lic school  system.    To  be  sure  there  are  very  few,  if  any,  such  bureaus 

84 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS  85 

in  existence,  but  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  we  ought  to  have 
the  vocation  bureau  in  the  school  system,  and  as  to  just  what  form 
it  should  take  if  we  do  have  it,  seems  to  interest  this  conference  par- 
ticularly. We  are  all  quite  sure  that  there  is  something  which  needs 
guidance,  but  there  is  a  radical  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  it  is. 
Some  of  us  think  that  it  is  chiefly  the  child  who  needs  guidance, 
some  of  us  think  that  it  is  rather  the  schools  which  need  the  guidance, 
and  others  are  quite  sure  that  it  is  the  industries  which  could  profit 
most  by  guidance.  Perhaps  if  we  could  spread  the  guidanee  very 
impartially  over  these  three  factors,  the  best  results  would  follow. 
Most  of  us  seem  to  agree  that  some  kmd  of  vocation  bureau,  dispensing 
information  and  advise  to  the  various  institutions  and  individuals 
concerned,  would  be  a  very  desirable  part  of  a  public  school  system. 

Since  we  are  in  a  state  of  great  uncertainty  as  to  just  what  form 
an  initial  school  vocation  bureau  ought  to  take,  I  will  simply  cut 
loose  from  facts  and  from  all  questions  of  immediate  expediency, 
and  discuss  the  question  as  to  what  part  a  psychological  laboratory 
might  play  in  an  ideal  school  vocation  bureau.  Such  a  bureau  would 
possess  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  industries  and  professions,  and 
sufficient  opportunities  for  all  kinds  of  training,  so  that  it  could  safely, 
after  studying  the  child,  help  him  map  out  an  appropriate  course  of 
study,  and  when  he  had  completed  it,  find  him  a  suitable  position. 
Now,  what  part  could  a  psychological  laboratory  play  in  such  a  com- 
plete system  as  that  ? 

Let  me  state  first  what  part  it  could  not  play.  The  laboratory 
would  be  of  very  little  assistance,  in  such  a  system,  when  it  came  to 
the  point  of  finally  advising  a  child  about  his  choice  of  a  career. 
In  a  school  which  possessed  a  good  vocation  bureau,  an  interest  in 
the  child  from  the  standpoint  of  his  future  career  would  be  present 
in  the  minds  of  the  teachers  from  the  start.  It  would  be  the  first 
duty  of  the  vocation  bureau  to  foster  such  a  spirit  in  the  teachers. 
The  teachers  would  co-operate  with  one  another  in  the  attempt  to 
plan  the  child's  future  wisely.  Instead  of  being  passed  along  from 
one  teacher  to  another,  accompanied  by  nothing  more  illuminating 
of  personality  than  his  name  and  age,  the  child  would  be  followed 
through  the  school  by  a  kind  of  cumulative  judgment  of  his  various 
teachers.  Such  an  intelligent  interest,  extended  over  the  early  years 
of  school  life,  ought  to  furnish  a  more  adequate  basis  for  judgment 
c'bout  the  child's  future,  than  any  set  of  laboratory  tests  could  supply. 
Experimental  psychology  is,  as  yet  a  coarse  and  clumsy  tool,  attacking 
a  very  difficult,  delicate,  complex  problem. 

We  need  not,  however,  conclude  that  the  psychological  laboratory 
has  no  part  to  play  in  such  an  ideal  system  as  we  have  suggested. 


J,,,  VOCATIONAL  ANALYSIS 

'.  liout;li  it  is  not  ready  to  furnish  a  final  and  complete  diagnosis  of 
a  ohird"s  abilities,  it  can  ofifer  valuable  help  from  time  to  time  in 
arriving  at  such  a  diagnosis.  In  many  cases  teachers  find  themselves 
l,u/zlcd  as  to  just  what  the  difficulty  is,  in  case  a  child  fails  in  school. 
It  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  whether  the  child  is  really  deficient,  and 
>iunild  be  placed  in  a  special  class,  whether  he  has  some  defect  of 
the  sense  organs  which  could  be  helped  by  treatment,  or  whether 
some  other  kind  of  physical  ill  is  responsible  for  his  failure.  Not 
long  ago.  a  child  was  brought  to  the  laboratory  who  had  been  in 
>clnH)l  several  years,  and  was  thought  to  be  both  vicious  and  deficient 
nientallv.  The  authorities  were  on  the  point  of  sending  him  to  a 
reform  school.  We  discovered  in  a  short  time  that  the  child  was 
exceedingly  deaf.  He  had  been  skillful  enough  to  conceal  the  fact 
to  a  great  extent,  and  although  the  teachers  knew  that  he  had  soma 
trouble  with  his  hearing,  they  had  no  idea  how  serious  a  handicap 
his  deafness  was.  A  series  of  laboratory  tests  showed  that  his 
memory  and  his  general  intelligence  in  some  directions  were  good, 
but  he  failed  completely  in  all  the  tests  involving  the  use  of  language. 
How  much  his  apparent  mental  and  moral  deficiencies  might  be  due 
to  years  of  failing  to  understand  what  was  said  to  him,  it  was  im- 
possible to  say,  but  one  thing  was  sure,  what  he  needed  first  was 
not  a  reform  school,  but  treatment  for  his  ears,  and  an  intelligent 
attempt  to  supply  the  elements  of  education  which  he  had  missed 
through  his  defect.  I  am  sure  the  case  is  not  at  all  unique  in  our 
schools,  and  that  teachers  who  were  intelligently  trying  to  understand 
their  pupils,  and  to  help  in  planning  their  lives,  would  find  a  laboratory 
of  great  assistance  at  many  points. 

One  special  kind  of  laboratory  diagnosis  is  worth  special  mention 
in  this  connection,  because  of  its  general  importance,  and  that  is  the 
diagnosis  of  real  mental  deficiencies.  The  presence  of  a  mentally 
deficient  child  in  a  class  is  a  drawback  to  normal  children,  and  an 
unfair  burden  upon  the  teacher.  Many  a  conscientious  teacher  has 
spent  a  totally  disproportionate  amount  of  time  in  the  hopeless  effort 
to  bring  a  deficient  child  up  to  grade,  and  has  meanwhile  neglected 
the  normal  children  who  might  have  profited  by  her  teaching.  Any 
measure  which  assists  in  the  prompt  and  efficient  elimination  of  the 
mentally  deficient  from  the  schools  is  of  undoubted  value,  and  there 
1-=  no  doubt  that  the  psychological  laboratory  is  better  equipped  to 
determine  mental  deficiencies  than  any  other  agency. 

.^o  far.  the  part  that  I  have  outlined  for  a  psychological  labor- 
ator>-  to  play  in  our  ideal  vocation  bureau  is  merely  that  of  any 
child  study  laboratory  in  a  school  system.  In  addition,  the  laboratory 
<-'Ught  to   serve   for   research.      It   may  be   a   long  time   before   the 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS  87 

average  school  board  will  be  willing  to  provide  a  laboratory  for  re- 
search, but  we  are  discussing  ideal  conditions.  I  believe  that  a  re- 
search laboratory  connected  with  the  school  could  be  of  great  service. 
Its  most  important  function  for  the  present  should  be  the  develop- 
ment of  the  psychological  technique  itself.  It  would  furnish  the 
best  means  of  finding  out  the  exact  value  of  the  various  tests  now 
at  our  disposal,  and  in  suggesting  others.  In  the  second  place,  such 
£  laboratory  could  establish  norms  for  mental  measurements.  The 
only  measuring  scale  for  intelligence  which  we  now  possess  is  the 
Binet-Simon  scale.  It  applies  only  to  children  up  to  the  age  of  four- 
teen. Imperfect  as  the  Binet  scale  is,  it  has  already  been  very  widely 
used,  has  proved  of  great  assistance  in  diagnosing  mental  deficiency, 
and  has  stimulated  a  great  deal  of  experimental  investigation.  It  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  establish  a  series  of  norms  for  the  ages 
above  fourteen,  not  so  much  for  the  diagnosis  of  mental  deficiencies, 
as  to  furnish  a  basis  for  comparison  of  various  groups  of  children 
with  one  another. 

To  illustrate  what  I  mean,  let  me  give  you  a  brief  account  of 
the  work  we  are  doing  in  Cincinnati,  with  the  hope  of  laying  the 
foundation  for  a  vocation  bureau.  We  are  trying  to  find  out  what 
effect  industry  has  upon  the  mental  and  physical  development  of  the 
children  who  enter  it.  The  only  way  of  getting  accurate  information 
on  this  point  is  to  measure  and  test  not  only  the  working  children,  but 
also  a  corresponding  series  of  children  who  remain  in  school.  The 
question  must  be  decided  by  group  comparisons  of  working  children 
and  school  children.  In  Ohio,  the  work  certificate  ofifice  has  the  super- 
vision of  working  children  up  to  the  age  of  sixteen.  They  are  required 
to  return  to  the  office  for  a  new  certificate  each  time  they  change 
positions.  We  have  measured  and  tested  a  large  series  of  these 
children  (about  850)  upon  going  to  work,  and  again  after  being 
at  work  for  a  year.  We  hope,  through  co-operation  with  the  em- 
ployers, to  be  able  to  keep  up  the  tests  from  year  to  year  even  after 
the  children  are  sixteen.  An  exactly  similar  series  of  tests  is 
being  carried  out  with  children  who  stay  in  school.  As  a  result  we 
ought  to  be  able  to  establish  a  series  of  norms  for  school  children, 
and  for  working  children  at  each  age ;  norms  which  could  serve  a  wide 
use.  both  in  diagnosing  individuals,  and  in  comparing  groups.  We 
ought  also  to  be  able  to  make  an  authoritative  statement  as  to  whether 
the  schools  or  the  industries  are  furnishing  the  best  medium  for  mental 
and  physical  development  for  fourteen  to  sixteen-year-old  children. 
Many  business  men  believe  that  a  well-conducted  office  or  factory  is 
a  better  place  for  the  average  child  than  our  present  schools.     Some 


^^  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

,ort  oi  cvKicnce  on  ihe  question  will  be  forthcoming  when  our  inves- 
tigation is  rinished. 

Let  me  say  just  a  word  or  two  about  the  use  of  the  psychological 
:alK»ratory  in '  the  other  type  of  vocation  bureau,  the  independent 
bureau  such  as  that  connected  with  a  settlement  or  Christian  Associa- 
lion.  This  bureau  is  called  upon  to  advise  a  very  heterogeneous  set 
of  individuals,  about  whom  it  knows  very  little.  It  seems  clear  that 
under  these  circumstances,  a  psychological  laboratory  can  be  much 
more  useful  in  helping  to  determine  vocational  fitness.  A  trained 
t-xperimental  psychologist  can  make  a  much  better  estimate  of  a 
stranger's  abilities  by  means  of  an  hour  or  so  spent  in  laboratory 
tests,  than  he,  or  most  other  people,  could  make  as  a  result  of  an 
hour's  interview.  Most  efficient  use  of  the  laboratory  will  be  made 
possible  only  where  we  possess  the  norms  for  various  ages  about 
which  I  have  been  talking,  but  the  psychologist  experienced  in 
experimental  work  already  possesses  rough  norms  of  his  own  which 
make  it  possible  to  interpret  some  of  the  results. 

Aside  from  estimates  of  general  ability  about  which  w^e  have 
been  talking,  there  is  also  a  definite  part  for  the  laboratory  to  play  in 
selecting  individuals  for  certain  occupations  having  special  require- 
ments. Your  chairman  has  already  referred  to  this  problem.  I 
quite  agree  with  him  that  the  more  difficult  the  occupation,  the  less 
possible  it  becomes  to  test  the  fitness  of  the  applicant  by  laboratory 
methods.  I  doubt  if  it  will  ever  be  possible  to  diagnose  genius  by 
laboratory  methods.  We  do  know,  however,  that  there  are  some 
occupations  that  make  definite  requirements  which  can  be  subjected 
to  tests,  and  that  the  use  of  such  tests  would  eliminate  a  great  deal 
of  waste  both  for  the  employer,  and  for  the  employe.  The  railroads 
have  long  made  use  of  tests  of  color-blindness,  for  instance.  I  agree 
with  your  chairman  that  the  telephone  service  might  profitably  use 
tests  of  the  sense  organs,  muscular  co-ordinations,  rapidity  of  motion, 
and  memory,  in  selecting  its  employes.  Before  we  can  know  how 
many  industries  there  are  which  could  profit  by  the  use  of  the  labor- 
atory in  the  same  way,  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  a  study  of  each 
industry,  and  devise  for  each  one,  if  it  proves  possible,  a  series  of 
tests  suited  to  its  needs.  The  chief  value  of  such  a  regime  will  prob- 
ably prove  to  be  not  in  differentiating  the  most  successful  individuals 
from  the  less  so,  but  in  eliminating  the  obviously  unfit. 

I  hope  you  do  not  feel  that  I  have  been  discouraging  the  use 
of  psychology  in  stating  its  limits.  I  have  been  talking  only  of  the 
laboratory  psychology  which  we  now  possess.  It  is  very '  possible 
that  the  laboratory  psychology  of  the  future  will  develop  a  technique 
which  will  extend  its  usefulness  greatly. 


EXPERIMENTAL      PSYCHOLOGY      IN      VOCATIONAL 

GUIDANCE 

Dr.  James  E.  Lough 
Professor  of  Psychology,  New  York  University 

Almost  everything  that  I  had  prepared  to  say  this  afternoon 
has  already  been  said.  I  think  you  will  all  agree  with  me,  if  I  may 
make  as  one  preliminary  remark  a  comment  on  Dr.  Wooley^s  first 
statement — that  she  drives  the  psychological  horse  well,  and  is  very 
successfully  pulling  the  burden  of  vocational  guidance.  I  hope  that 
we  shall  all  some  day  be  able  to  do  as  much  in  our  way  as  she  is 
doing  in  Cincinnati. 

My  attention  w^as  first  brought  to  the  practical  application  of 
psychology — experimental  psychology^to  vocational  guidance  by 
the  presidential  address  of  Professor  Seashore,  Dean  of  the  Grad- 
uate School  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  before  the  American  Psycho- 
logical Association.  In  this  address  Professor  Seashore  presented 
in  detail  a  method  of  determining  the  qualification  of  a  singer,  and 
whether  a  girl,  say,  of  fifteen,  who  had  had  some  musical  training 
could  profitably  continue  a  study  of  music,  with  music  as  a  career 
before  her,  or  whether  it  would  be  w^ell  for  her  to  continue  her 
music  perhaps  as  an  avocation,  but  certainly  not  as  a  vocation. 
Professor  Seashore  gave  us  a  tremendously  interesting  paper,  with 
the  tests  which  he  applied.  This  address  is  published  in  "Science" 
for  February  9,  1912.  Let  me  read  simply  the  list  of  measurements 
which  were  made. 

First  of  all,  sensory  or  pitch  discriminations,  to  determine  the 
range  of  discrimination — survey  of  the  register  of  discrimination, 
the  tonal  range,  timbre,  consonance  and  disconsonance,  the  sensibil- 
ity to  intensity,  the  ability  to  strike  various  tones,  sustaining  a  tone, 
and  the  plasticity  of  the  individual  in  learning  the  natural  strength 
and  volume  of  voice  and  voluntary  control ;  then  a  study  of  time, 
motor  ability,  and  transitions  from  one  tempo  to  another,  singing 
in  rhythm,  the  study  of  imagery,  and  especially  the  memory  span, 
ability  to  retain  images,  associations  and  musical  content,  creative 
imagination,  likes  and  dislikes,  especially  of  music  pitch  and  har- 
mony, extensive  volume,  rhythm,  and  time,  and  then  reaction  to 
musical  effect.  With  a  rather  complicated  system  of  experiments 
Dr.  Seashore  believes  that  it  is  possible  to  determine,  not  simply 
the  unfitness  of  a  possible    candidate   for  a    musical    career — most 

89 


jM  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

c.f  US  possibly  could  do  that  after  we  heard  him  sing— but  the  prob- 
ability of  ultimate  success  in  that  career. 

The  application  of  experimental  psychology  in  vocational 
guidance  will  require,  first  of  all,  the  study  by  psychologists  espe- 
cially trained  for  the  purpose,  of  the  psychological  processes  and 
psychological  content  involved  in  the  different  vocations.  This  will 
give  us  a  set  of  psychological  norms  on  which  to  base  judgments 
reganling  vocational  fitness.  I  regret  to  say  that  our  ignorance  on 
this  particular  topic  is  at  present  colossal.  The  psychologist  has 
stuck  too  close  to  his  laboratory.  Heretofore  our  study  has  simply 
been  of  the  obvious  qualities  that  make  rather  for  failure — color 
blindness. 

Then  comes  the  problem,  after  having  established  these  norms, 
of  determining  whether  the  individual  who  applies  for  vocational 
guidance  is  qualified  for  appointment  in  certain  positions.  The  test 
will  be  partly  for  mental  content — knowledge,  ideas,  facts,  etc. — but 
much  more  for  ability — functions  and  processes.  In  vocational  tests 
the  functioning  of  the  mind  will  be  more  significant  than  mere 
knowledge. 

The  experiments  which  I  wish  to  report  upon  this  afternoon 
are  experiments  that  tend  to  test  certain  functions  of  the  mind, 
and  not  at  all  to  test  the  content  of  the  mind.  It  does  not  indicate 
how  much  a  person  would  know,  but  would  indicate  how  much  of  a  cer- 
tain function  that  mind  can  perform.  The  test  that  I  shall  undertake  to 
describe  this  afternoon  is  a  test  of  the  ability  of  a  person  to  form  a 
habit,  a  very  simple  habit.  Before  describing  that  test,  I  will  say 
that  it  seems  to  me  we  could  test  other  functions  in  the  same  simple 
v.ay  that  I  shall  suggest  for  habit  formation — functions  of  other 
different  aspects  of  the  mind,  perhaps  the  memory  function,  motor 
control  and  adaptability.  And  here  also,  it  seems  to  me,  it  would  be 
wise  for  us  to  test  the  control  of  emotions,  especially  in  certain 
walks  of  life  where  emotional  control  would  mean  vocational  success. 

This  habit  formation  experiment  is  devised  so  that  it  mav 
be  used  without  any  apparatus.  T  am  carrying  on  this  experiment 
on  a  large  scale,  and  have  reported  the  general  method  of  the  ex- 
periment in  several  of  the  psychological  magazines. 

Each  person  is  given  a  sheet  like  this,*  which  contains  20  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  arranged  without  order,  ten  lines  of  these,  and  no 
two  lines  the  same.  On  the  top  line  is  what  is  called  the  kev.  The 
letters  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  on  the  top  line,  beneath  the 
first  letter  "A"  is  the  "equivalent  letter,"  in  this  case  "F,"  and  under 

•  Se»;  page  91. 


SCHOOL  OF  PEDAGOGY.  NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY. 
WASHINGTON  SQUARE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


FORMATION   OP  HABIT. 
Key  No,  3. 

ABCEEFGHIJKLMNOPq,RST 
I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I 
IPGXHRWVLDMBJASCYIKUZ 


FORMATION  OP  HABIT. 
Test  sheet. 

EC:EN0RAPBI   LGSUPTDJHq 

MKNG0LCAE3TIFQ,JPcIRD3 

CDATGISKRNJMQBEHOPLP 

qTCPFJULIOPRGSAEKHBM 

TPHMJSOPDGEq,LKANBIRC 

NI   BqEHDTJREAKSLOGMCP 

AqiKEGTSJDOHCPMBRLPN 

SAPJqMGDFTRKINHLEOCB 

JEI   BDNGSOCMLAqPRFTKH 

GNEDKESRqKPCJLTMFAOI 

91 


Time 


j2  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

the  letter  "B"  is  its  equivalent  letter,  which  happens  to  be  "G" ; 
under  "D"  is  "H" ;  under  "E"  is  "R,"  and  so  on  across  the  line.  The 
subject  is  required  to  look  on  the  first  letter  of  the  top  line,  find  its 
equivalent  letter  and  write  it  down,  then  the  next  letter,  find  its 
equivalent  letter  and  write  it  down,  and  so  on  for  every  letter  of  the 
top  line,  writing  the  time  required  at  the  end  of  the  line.  Then  re- 
peat this  operation  for  each  line  on  the  page. 

As  the  subject  forms  the  habit  of  connecting  "A"  and  "F"  he 
can  think  of  "F"  more  quickly  when  he  sees  the  "A" ;  he  can  think 
of  "G"  more  quickly  when  he  sees  "B,"  and  this  will  be  indicated 
by  a  shortening  of  the  time  required  to  w^rite  down  the  line  of 
equivalent  letters.  It  will  take  a  person  of  average  intelligence 
about  fifty  seconds  to  write  the  equivalent  letters  of  that  first  line. 
After  going  through  one  of  these  sheets  to-day,  another  to-morrow, 
.-mother  the  following  day,  for  about  twenty  days,  he  will  reduce  his 
time  to  the  neighborhood  of  eleven  or  twelve  seconds,  and  that  will 
be  about  the  psychological  limit ;  that  is  about  as  fast  as  your  fingers 
can  write,  and  the  line  uniting  these  different  points  with  the  work 
of  each  day,  or  curve,  will  give  what  is  called  the  curve  of  habit,  or 
curve  of  learning. 

All  the  curves  that  I  show  this  afternoon  were  made  in  one  of 
the  New  York  high  schools.  There  were  also  some  very  interesting 
curves  showing  the  difference  between  the  habit-forming  power  of 
children  of  ten,  the  children  of  fourteen,  and  of  adults,  and  I  may 
say  here  that  while  the  children  of  ten  form  a  habit  much  more 
rapidly  than  adults  will,  they  give  up  more  quickly ;  they  never  carry 
the  habit  to  the  degree  of  perfection  attained  by  older  subjects. 
Fourteen-year-old  children  do  not  learn  quite  so  rapidly,  but  stick 
to  it  a  little  longer,  and  adults,  who  are  much  slower  in  forming  the 
habits,  show  the  effect  of  sustained  effort,  they  attain  finally  a  de- 
gree of  excellence  that  children  do  not  reach. 

Here  are  the  curves  of  four  high  school  boys.*  These  two  lines  A 
and  B  are  the  habit  curves  of  two  boys  in  one  of  the  New  York  high 
schools,  who  form  their  habits  very  easily,  and  were  given  a  high 
rating.  You  see  the  curve  starts  for  them  at  40  seconds  until  they 
arrive  at  11  seconds  in  both  cases.  The  lines  C  and  D  are  two  of  the 
poorest  boys  in  the  school,  or  in  the  class,  their  habits  starting  at  80 
and  never  reached  the  same  degree  of  perfection  in  either  case.  We 
have  the  habit  curves  of  scores  and  scores  of  these  boys  formed  un- 
der the  same  general  conditions. 

*  See  opposite  page. 


93 


y,  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

The  sigiiilicancc  of  that  to  vocational  training  will  be  seen  from 
this  other' chart  which  I  will  show  you  briefly.*  This  chart  shows  the 
correlation  between  ability  to  form  habits  and  typewriting.  The 
broken  line  means  perfect  correlation;  it  means  that  boys  who  were  the 
poorest  in  habit-formation  were  also  poorest  in  their  course  in  type- 
writing, and  that  those  who  were  highest  in  habit-formation  would 
;.lso  be'  highest  in  typewriting.  These  experiments  show  a  high 
degree  of  correlation  between  habit  formation  and  typewriting. 
Those  that  had  the  best  mark  in  habit-formation  also  had  the  best 
mark  in  typewriting.  You  will  see  that  the  pupil  who  is  marked  50 
in  typewriting,  was  also  given  fifty  per  cent,  in  his  habit-formation. 
These  two  records,  of  course,  were  entirely  distinct  from  each  other. 
The  person  who  assigned  the  mark  for  the  typewriting  knew  noth- 
ing at  all  of  the  marks  for  habit-formation.  Those  pupils  whose 
marks  for  habit-formation  were  45.  50.  55.  also  had  poor  marks  in 
typewriting;  those  who  made  75  and  70  in  their  habit-formation  re- 
ceived J^  in  their  typewriting,  until  we  come  to  the  best  marks.  The 
pupil  \vho  got  roo  in  his  habit-formation  made  85  in  his  typewriting. 
I  think  there  were  enough  cases  in  this  group  to  give  us  a  pretty 
fair  correlation.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  if  we  give  these  pupils 
tests  in  habit-formation  first,  we  can  determine  what  pupils  are 
capable  of  doing  good  work  in  typewriting,  and  we  can  save  some 
of  the  pupils  a  great  amount  of  wear  and  tear,  by  simply  allowing 
them  to  take  some  other  work  in  place  of  typewriting.  They  are  not 
adapted  to  the  motor  responses  that  typewriting  calls  for.  By  means 
of  this  experiment  it  would  be  possible  to  select  those  who  are  likely 
to  succeed  in  typewriting,  and  give  a  vacation  to  those  who  would 
not  succeed. 

This  same  group  of  pupils  were  then  studied  in  connection 
with  "'business  forms,"  including  stenography,  and  there  was  found 
to  be  correlation  but  not  to  the  same  degree  as  for  typewriting. 
Some  high  school  pupils  were  rated  on  their  work  in  German  Gram- 
mar, and  you  will  see  here  an  almost  perfect  correlation  between 
the  general  habit-forming  powers  of  the  pupils  in  the  lower  half  of 
the  class,  and  their  work  in  German  Grammar.f  The  basis  of  this 
correlation  is  perfectly  evident  when  you  consider  the  nature  of  the 
work  such  pupils  must  do  in  German.  They  must  devote  themselves 
to  vocabulary,  declensions,  conjugations,  etc.,  and  never  rise  to  the 
heights  of  judgment  and  appreciation  of  the  language.  You  will  see 
that  there  is  a  pretty  close  correlation  between  the  habit-forming 

*See  curve  C  on  page  95. 
tSee  curve  A  on  page  95. 


B 


o    s 


< 
p 


<r 

X 


z: 
g 

2 


GER.MAIN 


ABILIir  in  nATHEnATlC5 

s        ?        s        s 


§  8 


TYPEWRJTinO 


zz 

o 


<0 


r: 


5U5inES5  fORHS^^  5TEnOGRAPHY\^ 
8  S  S  § 

D 


95 


95  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

powers  and  the  marks  in  German,  until  you  come  to  the  records  of 
the  better  half  of  the  class,  when  there  is  no  correlation.  Those 
pupils  who  stood  best  in  German  were  lower  in  general  habit-form- 
ing power  than  those  who  had  a  moderately  good  mark  in  German. 

(^L-ESTio.\  nv  AN  Auditor:  I  cannot  understand  why  the  habit- 
forniTng  curve  is  not  continuously  the  same,  because  you  compare 
the  habit-forming  capacity  with  these  various  occupations. 

Professor  Lough:  There  are  other  things  in  the  occupations 
besides  habit-formation.  In  the  study  of  German,  for  example,  for 
those  who  do  not  rank  very  high  in  German,  practically  the  whole 
occupation  in  German  will  be  memorizing  the  declensions,  conju- 
gations and  vocabularies,  and  these  pupils  show  almost  a  complete 
correlation  between  German  and  habit-formation. 

The  Questioner:  I  see  that,  but  why  have  you  got  the  occupa- 
tion curve  there  instead  of  the  original  habit-forming  curve? 

Professor  Lough:  This  is  the  record  of  a  large  class  of  high 
school  pupils. 

The  Questioner:  I  understood  you  to  say  that  you  tested  the 
capacity  of  habit- forming  in  a  certain  way,  and  then  applied  that 
curve,  as  I  suppose,  to  these  various  groups.  The  black  cur\'es  differ 
oil  the  time. 

Professor  Lough  :  Because  in  this  instance  I  have  correlated 
the  work  on  the  basis  of  work  in  German.  The  ratings  of  the  pupils 
are  indicated  on  this  base  line,  we  then  indicate  on  the  other  line  the 
rating  of  the  habit-forming.  There  is  perfect  correlation  in  the 
lower  half — poor  in  German,  poor  in  habit-formation.  Up  here,  in 
the  upper  half  there  is  less  correlation — the  pupils  who  stood  70 
•.n  habit- formation.  There  was  still  some  correlation;  but  when  you 
go  further  than  that,  we  find  that  the  pupil  whose  mark  in  habit- 
formation  was  80  made  only  65  in  his  German ;  the  pupil  whose  habit- 
forming  mark  was  90  made  on  an  average  about  65  in  German.  The 
correlation  in  this  curve  is  on  the  basis  of  German,  and  in  the  other 
curve  it  was  on  the  basis  of  the  marks  in  stenography  and  typewriting. 

I  believe  it  is  possible  to  carry  out  these  experiments  on  a  much 
larger  scale  than  I  have  tried  so  far,  by  securing  from  teachers  in  the 
commercial  and  high  schools  throughout  the  country  the  habit-forming 
cun-es  of  their  pupils,  and  then  getting  the  rating  in  the  different 
courses  they  are  taking. 


A     CO-OPERATIVE    SYSTEM     OF     VOCATIONAL 
ANALYSIS     AND     GUIDANCE 

GusTAVE  A.  Blumenthal 
Vocational  Analyst,  West  Side  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  New  York 

In  presenting  on  this  platform  a  new  kind  of  Vocational  Bureau 
which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  started  a  couple  of  years  ago  in  America,  I 
may  state  that  we  combine  Vocational  Analysis  with  Vocational  Guid- 
ance. Our  only  object  for  having  organized  such  a  Bureau  is  that  we 
feel  the  necessity  of  helping  the  misfits  and  wasters  which  your  schools 
turn  out  by  the  hundreds  every  year  at  an  age  when  they  really  re- 
quire this  most  important  guidance  in  their  lives.  Instead  of  continua- 
tion schools  or  other  means  of  looking  after  the  boys  and  girls  when 
they  leave  school,  your  educational  system  turns  them  adrift  at  the 
critical  moment  in  their  lives,  and  this  after  spending  enormous  sums 
on  their  so-called  education. 

Therefore  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  feels  compelled  to  give  that  guidanci 
and  advice  until  the  different  Boards  of  Education  wake  up  to  their 
duties  in  this  direction.  The  first  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Vocation  Bureau  was 
organized  by  Mr.  J.  Gustave  White,  Educational  Director  of  the 
Buffalo  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  myself  on  original  co-operative  lines. 
After  a  successful  year  in  experimenting  we  achieved  such  remark- 
able results  that  the  West  Side  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sent  a  representative  to 
Buffalo  to  inquire  into  our  methods  with  the  result  that  they  decided 
to  engage  me  to  assist  in  starting  a  similar  Bureau  in  New  York  City. 
I  may  state  here  that  the  Minneapolis  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  also  organized 
n  Bureau  on  similar  lines  to  ours  with  Mr.  Joseph  Blumenthal,  my 
brother,  as  Vocational  Analyst.  At  the  latest  report  this  Bureau  is 
doing  wonderful  work  and  has  already  helped  a  great  number  of 
young  men  to  find  their  real  vocation  in  life. 

Our  Bureau  was  opened  under  most  favorable  circumstances  on 
May  1st,  1913,  and  we  have  had  a  steady  stream  of  applicants  for 
advice  at  the  rate  of  100  a  month.  We  are  obliged  to  charge  a  fee 
for  this  advice,  although  it  is  only  a  nominal  one  and  does  not  cover 
one-half  of  the  expense  which  we  are  put  to.  If  we  did  not  charge 
a  fee  we  would  be  fairly  swamped  with  work  and  would  have  to  erect 
an  extra  building. 

Our    Objects 

"First,  to  discover  vocational  aptitudes,  secondly,  to  advise 
as  to  vocational  preparation,  and  thirdly,  to  guide  into  vocational 
opportunities. 

97 


j8  VOCATIONAL  ANALYSIS 

•i-or  a  voung  man— for  any  man— the  choosing  of  a  life 
uork  i.  a  momentous  problem.  If  he  chooses  wisely,  he  is  on 
the  high  road  to  happiness  and  success.  If  he  makes  a  mistake, 
he  finds  himself  on  a  by-path  or  in  a  blind  alley,  dissatisfied  and 
discouraged  because  working  at  a  disadvantage.  Many  young 
men  do  not  even  choose  what  they  will  be ;  but  take  the  first  job 
that  seems  attractive,  drift  from  that  into  something  else  that  looks 
better,  and  finally  settle  down,  not  because  they  are  contented, 
but  because  they  are  too  old  to  change.  Few  men  have  found 
their  work  by  anything  approaching  a  scientific  method. 

"The  fact  is  that  there  are  practically  no  effective  arrange- 
ments for  guiding  young  men  into  their  proper  life  work.  This 
means  waste,  both  of  money  and  of  men.  No  man  can  do  the 
most  for  himself  or  for  society  if  he  be  a  misfit.  This  waste  of 
money  and  of  men  should  be  stopped.  No  kind  of  'efficiency 
engineering'  is  more  important  than  this.  What  is  needed  is  a 
Vocation  Bureau  that  shall  tell  young  men  what  kind  of  work 
they  are  good  for,  help  them  in  preparing  for  that  work,  and 
guide  them  in  finding  it  when  they  are  ready. 

"Such  a  Vocation  Bureau  has  been  established  at  the  West 
Side  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Its  aim  is  to  advise  men 
and  boys  as  to  their  vocational  opportunities,  and  also  to  aid 
parents  in  planning  the  education  and  work  of  their  children.  The 
Bureau  is  organized  so  as  to  focus  on  each  case  the  judgment  ot 
a  group  of  expert  advisers." 

Our   Method 
First,  the  Vocational  Secretary. 

"He  receives  each  applicant  and  sees  that  he  lills  .mt  a  con- 
fidential self-analysis  blank,  on  which,  among  other  things,  the 
following  points  are  covered :  Previous  education,  natural  bent 
of  mind,  kinds  of  reading,  past  and  present  employment,  exercise 
taken,  use  of  leisure  time,  habits,  hobbies,  ambitions,  religious 
life.  He  also  sees  each  applicant  after  he  has  been  analyzed  and 
directs  him  to  the  Consulting  Secretary  and  Outside  Adviser. 

Second,  the  Vocational  Analyst. 

"The  applicant  then  has  an  interview  with  the  Vocational 
Analyst,  who  studies  his  mental,  physical,  moral  and  social  charac- 
teristics, estimates  his  abilities  and  talents,  and  suggests  the  voca- 
tion and  side  interests  in  which  success  may  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected, together  with  any  courses  of  study  that  may  be  deemed 
advisable.  In  addition,  special  advice  is  given  as  may  be  required. 
For  example,  the  man  may  be  run  down  physically;  ho  may  be 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSTS  0'^ 

working  at  something  for  which  he  is  wholly  unfitted;  his  habits 
and  thought  or  his  way  of  life  may  be  all  wrong.  Whatever  may 
be  the  matter,  the  need  is  pointed  out  and  the  remedy  indicated." 

Third,  the  Consulting  Secretaries. 

The  applicant  is  then  directed  to  such  of  the  following  Con- 
sulting Secretaries  as  his  case  seems  to  demand. 

Physical — If  he  needs  advice  regarding  the  care  and 
training  of  his  body. 

Employment — If  out  of  work  or  not  in  the  right  posi- 
tion. 

Educational — If  he  needs  special  or  additional  educa- 
tional training. 

Religious — If  he  needs  friendly  counsel  and  advice  re- 
garding conduct  and  habits  that  are  keeping  him  from  the 
highest  efficiency. 

Boys — If  the  applicant  is  a  young  man  under  i8  years  of 
age. 

High  School  Boys — If  the  applicant  is  in  a  High  School. 

General- — If  the  applicant  desires  advice  regarding  spe- 
cial altruistic  vocations,  such  as :  Social  Service,  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Foreign  Missions,  the  Ministry. 

Fourth,  the  Vocational  Advisers. 

Associated  with  each  Consulting  Secretary  is  a  group  of 
Vocational  Advisers,  business  and  professional  men,  leaders  in 
their  respective  callings,  who  have  volunteered  to  advise  men  and 
boys  referred  to  them  by  the  Vocation  Bureau.  Suppose,  for 
example,  a  young  man  has  been  advised  to  enter  the  automobile 
business,  or  to  study  law,  or  to  become  a  salesman  or  an  account- 
ant, or  an  engineer.  In  each  case  he  will  be  sent  to  the  Vocational 
Adviser  representing  this  special  interest,  and  will  receive  the 
benefit  of  his  experience  and  judgment. 

Thus  the  young  man  seeking  advice  regarding  his  life  work 
may  have  the  combined  counsel  of  the  Vocational  Secretary,  Vo- 
cational Analyst,  the  Consulting  Secretary,  and  the  Vocational 
Adviser,  each  contributing  the  advice  which  his  viewpoint  sug- 
gests. 

In  analysing  boys  and  girls  there  is  no  necessity  of  using  ultra 
psychological  laboratory  means  of  judging  their  mental  and  physical 
standard.  Plain  common  sense  psychology  is  the  best.  We  have  no 
perfect  standard  of  a  child  as  yet  and  the  average  teacher  of  intelli- 
gence should  use  his  own  judgment  according  to  his  or  her  practical 
experience.     Any  system  of  education  can   include  self-analysis   and 


H)0  VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

giiiiiance  so  long  as  the  economic  conditions  are  studied.  Each  coun- 
try, state  and  town  requires  its  own  methods  of  co-operation  according 
to'  local  conditions.  For  physical  defects  the  average  medical  man  or 
dentist  of  school  experience  is  quite  qualified  to  give  advice.  Without 
using  laboratory  methods  of  coming  to  conclusions  the  mental  stand- 
ard of  a  child  can  also  easily  be  defined  by  a  little  careful  questioning 
and  logical  deductions.  For  instance,  out  of  a  fool  you  can  only  make 
a  decent  fool  but  never  a  leader;  but  by  applied  psychological  means 
you  may  prevent  such  a  great  number  of  fools  from  being  bom. 

In  my  work  I  get  at  the  avocation  of  an  individual  first  and  fit  the 
vocation  in  to  harmonize  with  it.  If  a  boy  by  avocation  is  a  black- 
.<mith  it  would  be  wrong  to  make  him  by  vocation  a  doctor,  no  matter 
if  the  parents  want  a  doctor  in  the  family  as  a  social  reclaimer,  or  not. 
The  would-be  doctor  with  the  soul  of  a  blacksmith  will  be  more  use- 
ful as  a  mechanic  than  as  a  medical  man.  During  the  last  three  months 
I  have  had  to  place  fifteen  doctors  in  their  right  groove  in  life  and 
only  one  of  them  have  I  sent  back  to  medical  practice.  Seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  people  mistake  their  vocation  in  life  through  environment, 
want  of  means  or  neglect;  but  mostly  through  want  of  the  right  voca- 
tional advice  in  choosing  their  life-work.  Therefore,  I  rejoice  to  be 
?ble  to  help  you  this  evening  in  calling  to  the  attention  of  the  people 
of  this  great  country,  America,  the  great  importance  of  vocational 
work. 

In  Australia  we  have  some  very  interesting  laws,  compelling  all 
classes  to  fit  in  by  practical  Vocational  Guidance,  although  we  do  not 
call  it  by  that  name.  In  looking  after  the  mental  and  physical  stand- 
ard of  the  children  there,  we  compel  the  parents  and  employers  to 
keep  them  in  a  healthy  condition  and  without  over-working  them. 
The  state  is  the  guardian  in  that  respect  and  God  help  the  employer 
that  ill-uses  a  child.  We  elevate  trades  there  to  professions  and  the 
name  of  servant  has  disappeared.  Servants  and  helpers  and  not  slaves. 
By  Compelling  the  employers  to  do  their  share  in  fitting  the  trades  to 
the  employees  just  as  much  as  we  train  the  employee  for  the  trade. 
the  working  conditions  are  so  much  improved  that  I  doubt  if  there  is 
another  country  in  the  world  where  the  worker  is  so  happy.  Yor 
tAventy  years  ago  everybody  said  that  such  a  thing  could  not  be  done. 
Anything  can  be  done  if  we  go  gradually  to  work  with  zeal  and  in  the 
proper  spirit  of  co-operation. 


SELF-ANALYSIS    BY    HIGH    SCHOOL    GIRLS 

Henrietta   Rodman 
Vocational  Counsellor  Wadleigh  High  School,  New  York 

Until  a  girl  knows  herself  and  the  community  of  which  she  is  to 
become  a  part,  she  cannot  adjust  herself  to  that  community  through  the 
choice  of  an  occupation,  for  a  rational  choice  of  occupation  must  be 
based,  first,  upon  knowledge  of  one's  own  ability,  second,  upon  appre- 
ciation of  the  needs  of  the  community;  and,  third,  upon  recognition 
of  the  relations  of  specific  occupations,  on  the  one  hand  to  one's  self, 
and  on  the  other  hand  to  the  community. 

My  course  in  the  Wadleigh  High  School  is  an  attempt  to  enable 
the  girls  to  analyse  themselves ;  to  study  the  community ;  and  to  reason 
about  their  relation  to  the  community,  especially  through  their  choice 
of  life  work. 

In  attempting  vocational  analysis  of  themselves,  the  girls  follow 
Professor  Edward  L.  Thorndike's  classification  of  types  of  mind 
as  thing-thinkers  and  idea-thinkers,  which  correspond  in  the  main 
with  our  classification  of  occupations.  The  occupations  requiring  thing- 
thinking  are  the  arts  and  industries;  idea-thinking  is  required  in  com- 
merce and  the  professions.  Individuals  who  are  capable  of  original 
thing-thinking,  who  can  make  new  combinations  of  lines,  colors  and 
m.aterials,  will  probably  succeed  in  the  arts.  Those  who  can  do  similar 
work  accurately  and  rapidly  but  must  have  their  designs  made  for  them 
by  others,  will  probably  succeed  in  the  industries.  A  similar  division 
may  be  made  of  idea-thinkers: — the  creative  idea-thinkers  will  find 
their  place  in  the  professions,  the  adaptive,  in  ordinary  commercial 
lines. 

Habits  of  thing-thinking  and  idea-thinking  reveal  themselves  in 
children.  The  child  who  likes  to  make  things  or  play  with  things  is  not 
hard  to  distinguish  from  the  child  who  prefers  to  read,  dream  and 
study. 

A  group  of  my  girls  who  had  failed  in  the  regular  academic 
course,  analyzed  themselves :  80  per  cent,  as  thing-thinkers,  20  per 
cent,  as  idea-thinkers.  They  gave  as  evidence  of  their  thing-thinking 
tendencies  that  they  liked  to  make  doll's  clothes  or  their  own ;  that  they 
liked  to  embroider,  to  cook,  or  "just  to  make  things"  with  their  hands. 
Some  said  they  liked  to  make  their  own  designs,  others  that  they  pre- 
ferred to  copy.  Our  orthodox  high  school  course  had  not  given  these 
girls  an  opportunity  to  develop,  scarcely  to  indicate  abilities  which 
might  be  of  great  social  value. 

101 


VOCATIONAL  ANALYSIS 

Kepcirt  bv  Rosina  Nor,man,  One  of  Miss  Rodman's  Pupils 
For  some  reason  or  other  when  girls  are  sent  to  school  their 
parents  usually  want  them  to  be  school  teachers,  because  that  seems  to 
l.e  the  nicest  vocation  they  can  go  into,  so  we  all  decide  to  be  school 
teachers  because  our  parents  want  us  to.  I  went  to  high  school  with  the 
-ame  idea.  After  I  had  been  there  for  two  or  three  years.  I  found  that 
1  was  not  keeping  up  with  the  mark  in  my  studies,  and  was  not  doing 
just  as  1  ought  to.  I  thought,  well,  the  best  thing  for  me  to  do  would 
be  to  leave  school,  because  I  knew  I  never  would  really  become  a 
ti-acher.  Then  this  course  was  introduced  into  Wadleigh.  In  it  we 
were  supposed  to  analyze  ourselves  to  find  out  what  we  were.  Miss 
Rodman  talked  to  us,  and  told  us  that  we  were  to  find  out  what  w^e 
really  were,  and  I  found  out  that  I  was  interested  in  things,  I  w^anted  t  j 
use  mv  hands.  I  could  make  dresses  and  I  could  make  hats,  and  I  was 
verv  fond  of  children,  and  I  found  out  that  I  didn't  care  very  much 
about  studying,  so  I  decided  not  to  become  a  school  teacher.  I  read  an 
article  about  children,  on  the  Montessori  method,  and  T  put  my  heart 
and  soul  into  it,  because  in  it  I  could  work  Avith  children  and  with 
things  that  I  could  see  and  touch.  I  thought  that  this  winter  I  would 
leave  high  school  and  take  up  this  work ;  but  I  found  out  that  in  order 
to  work  with  the  Montessori  method  I  ought  to  have  a  high  sclijool  edu- 
cation first.  I  found  that  you  cannot  do  ven,^  much  without  that.  But 
I  was  not  discouraged,  for  now  that  I  know  what  I  want  to  do,  what 
I  have  in  mind ;  I  feel  that  I  can  go  on  with  my  studies,  and  in  a  very 
^liort  time.  I  expect,  graduate,  and  take  up  what  I  like  much  better  than 
school  work. 


SUMMARY 


Frederick  G.   Bonser 
Assistant  Professor  of  Industrial  Education,  Teachers'  College,   Xew  York 

I  am  very  sorry  that  Dean  Russell  is  not  here  to  summarize 
this  program  as  was  expected.  As  the  hour  is  late,  I  shall  say  only 
a  few  words. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  complexity  of  this  whole  problem  has 
been  pretty  well  illustrated  in  pointing  out  that  there  are  a  number 
3of  phases  which  need  emphasis— analysis  of  the  child,  analysis  of  the 
^chool,  analysis  of  the  industries,  and  analysis  of  society.  This  after- 
noon these  four  phases  have  all  been  indicated  as  having  an  important 
bearing  upon  this  problem  of  vocational  guidance.  Mi^s.  Wooley's 
pomting  out  the  necessity  for  establishing  norms  of  development  and 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS  103 

capacity  through  the  use  of  the  psychological  laboratory,  and  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  psychological  laboratory  for  excluding  the  unfit  in  rela- 
tionship to  certain  vocations  seemed  to  me  to  be  points  of  great  worth 
in  emphasizing  the  value  of  psychology  to  this  problem.  I  think 
her  point  that  the  laboratory  will  be  found  of  greater  efficiency 
in  connection  with  the  school  system  than  with  the  vocational 
bureau  is  well  taken.  She  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  psychologica,! 
laboratory  might  also  be  used  rather  efifectively  in  connection  with 
the  vocational  bureau  in  revealing  the  negative  aspects  of  vocational 
possibility. 

I  count  the  work  in  Cincinnati  of  especial  moment  in  its  com- 
parative study  of  groups  leaving  school  at  fourteen  for  the  vocations 
and  those  who  continue  in  the  school.  Comparisons  through  the  years 
from  fourteen  to  seventeen  of  large  groups  of  such  children  cannot 
fail  to  reveal  the  relative  effects  of  school  work  and  vocational  work 
upon  certain  qualities  of  child  life.  Here  there  should  certainly  ap- 
pear measurable  results  which  will  distinguish  the  effects  of  those 
vocations  that  have  been  called  energizing  from  those  that  have  been 
called  enervating.  If  the  claim  sometimes  made  that  those  children 
who  leave  the  school  for  work  at  fourteen  but  who  continue  the  four 
hours  a  week  of  school  work  provided  by  the  continuation  school  are 
as  well  off  physically  and  educationally  as  those  who  continue  in 
the  school,  we  shall  have  a  severe  indictment  of  the  efficiency  of  those 
years  of  regular  school  work.  The  contribution  of  Cincinnati  to  the 
mvestigation  of  this  problem  will  certainly  be  of  far  reaching  influence. 

The  next  paper  seemed  to  me  to  contain  something  of  profoundly 
significant  influence.  If  this  close  correlation  between  the  tests  In 
habit  formation  and  certain  capacities  that  are  revealed  in  school 
^ubjects  proves  upon  further  investigation  to  be  general,  as  it  now 
seems  to  be,  it  will  certainly  have  a  rather  strong  bearing  upon  voca- 
tional guidance.  I  was  especially  interested  in  the  comparison  between 
that  type  of  test  and  the  work  in  German.  The  question  came  to  my 
mind  whether,  if  this  study  proves  of  general  application,  it  will  not 
tend  to  modify  markedly  our  practice  with  reference  to  a  certain 
number  of  required  units  in  foreign  language  study  for  all  students 
who  wish  to  be  graduated  from  high  school  or  who  ask  for  a  Bachelor's 
degree  in  College.  Probably  this  type  of  test  will  also  have  a  larger 
bearing  in  indicating  what  vocations  or  professions  a  person  should 
not  enter  than  indicating  special  success  in  any  particular  vocation 
among  the  several  which  an  individual  might  enter.  I  think  the  two 
papers  both  show  very  forcefully  that  the  psychological  laboratory 
has  possibilities  for  contributing  very  markedly  to  the  solution  of 
this  whole  problem. 


VOCATIONAL   ANALYSIS 

The  emphasis  of  Mr.  BluiMENTHal  upon  the  need  of  the  common 
sense  element  in  this  problem  indicates  that  the  pspychological  labor- 
;>tory  cannot  work  alone;  that  although  we  need  to  do  all  we  can 
through  accurate  scientific  measurement,  we  still  need  to  use  all  of 
that  element  of  common  sense  which  we  can  possibly  bring  to  bear 
upon  the  problem.  I  am  led  to  question  just  a  little  whether  it  is 
safe  to  leave  this  whole  matter  until  the  child  is  fourteen.  In  the 
.school  connected  with  Teachers'  College  for  demonstration  purposes 
we  are  paying  all  the  attention  possible  to  care  of  the  health  of  the 
children  from  the  kindergarten  stage  on  and  in  trying  to  find  out 
in  just  as  large  a  measure  as  possible  through  the  regular  school 
subjects  where  the  aptitudes  and  limitations  of  each  child  lie.  In 
our  several  years  of  experience  it  has  seemed  to  us  that,  where  all 
of  the  activities  typical  of  outside  life  are  represented  in  the  school, 
we  can  make  a  fairly  safe  estimate  of  the  direction  in  which  voca- 
tional success  probably  lies  for  most  of  our  boys  and  girls.  In  many 
cases,  however,  the  conclusions  we  derive  are  negative  rather  than 
positive.  They  help  us  to  keep  children  from  entering  vocations  for 
which  they  are  clearly  unfitted.  Miss  Rod^ean  brought  out  very 
strongly  the  need  of  having  something  to  meet  the  specific  interests 
and  aptitudes  of  those  children  who  are  found  to  be  capable  in  parti- 
cular vocations.  She  has  shown  that  the  discovery  of  vocational  apti- 
tude is  only  half  of  the  problem ;  that  this  discovery  must  be  met  with 
the  provision  for  some  training  in  that  vocation  for  which  the  child 
is  found  to  be  apt. 

On  the  whole  it  seems  to  me  the  program  has  indicated  clearly 
at  least  two  things:  First  of  all  that  this  is  a  very  complex  problem 
and  that  we  need  to  bring  to  bear  upon  it  every  means  we  possibly 
can  for  securing  helpful  information ;  secondly,  that  we  are  working 
along  lines  which  indicate  that  some  real  achievment  is  being  made. 
I  have  great  faith  in  the  contributions  possible  through  the  Cin- 
cinnati plan  and  other  applications  of  the  laboratory  method,  and  I 
think  we  can  also  agree  that  we  should  apply  the  very  best  common 
sense  possible  to  the  problem;  in  the  combination  of  both,  together 
with  the  several  forms  of  analysis  which  have  been  pointed  out,  all 
continued  for  a  number  of  years,  we  shall  see  very  definite  progress 
m  the  solution  of  this  problem.  It  is  a  complex  one  and  every  little 
helps  toward  working  it  out. 


105 
DISCUSSION 

R.     S.    WOODVVORTH 

Professor  of  Psychologj'-,  Columbia  University 

The  proposition  to  apply  experimental  psychology  to  vocational 
guidance  raises  the  question  whether  we  can  decide,  from  a  brief  series 
of  tests,  anything  which  will  be  reliable  regarding  the  individual.  There- 
suits  so  far  as  they  have  gone  enable  us  to  say  that  there  is  a  general 
agreement  between  the  experimental  tests  and  the  ability  of  the  individ- 
ual; that  is,  there  is  what  is  called  by  statisticians  a  positive  correlation 
between  almost  any  test  and  any  other  form  of  measurement  of  the  indi- 
vidual's ability;  so  that  we  could  say,  if  the  individual  does  w'ell  in  a 
series  of  tests,  he  is  likely  to  do  well  in  almost  any  occupation.  But  this  is 
not  what  is  wanted,  of  course.  The  question  is  whether  heisbetter  suited 
for  one  or  for  another  vocation,  and  for  that  the  tests  must  be  much 
more  specific.  In  order  to  reach  such  a  condition  it  will  be  necessary  to 
investigate  the  subject,  and  to  my  mind,  the  best  hope  of  real  progress 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  industries  or  employers  are  finding  an  interest 
in  the  subject.  The  employer  has  so  much  money  at  stake  in  the  mat- 
ter in  many  industries,  that  he  could  afford  to  subsidize  to  a  very 
heavv  extent. 


SESSION    OF    FRIDAY    EVENING,    OCTOBER    25 
At  the   New    York    Trade    School 

CONFERENCE  ON  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  VOCATIONAL 

TRAINING 

CiiMRMAX,   Dr.  Charles  S.  Berxheimer 
Superintendent  TTehrew  Educational  Society,  Brooklyn 

The  Chairman:  It  appears  that  Boston  has  comparatively  better 
ptovision  for  industrial  education  in  its  public  schools  than  any  of  the 
other  large  cities.  New  York  comes  second.  There  is  a  vocational 
school  for  boys  in  Manhattan.  The  establishment  of  another  voca- 
tional school  is  said  to  be  under  consideration.  It  should  be  located 
in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn.  Similarly  in  addition  to  the  Manhattan 
Trade  School  for  Girls,  located  in  Manhattan,  there  ought  to  be  a  trade 
school  for  girls  established  in  Brooklyn. 

It  would  be  worth  while  to  inquire  why  the  plan  for  opening  the 
Xcw  York  Public  elementary  school  work  shops  from  three  to  five, 
m  the  evenings  and  on  Saturdays,  to  boys  over  twelve  for  optional 
work,  is  no  longer  carried  on. 

The  Chicago  City  Club  Report  on  vocational  training  stated: 
"The  students  in  the  commercial  branches  pay  one  and  a  half  million 
dollars  for  tuition."  The  report  asks  why  could  not  this  sum  be 
invested  for  commercial  high  schools  or  courses  designed  to  meet 
the  needs  of  Chicago's  business.  We  may  ask  the  same  question  with 
reference  to  New  York  and  other  large  cities. 

It  is  well  recognized  that  many  of  the  business  schools  and  col- 
lege? do  not  set  up  high  standards  of  education  and  resort  to  undesir- 
able means  for  obtaining  their  pupils.  It  is  a  matter  that  calls  for 
investigation.  Likewise  it  is  well  recognized  that  the  teaching  of 
commercial  branches  in  the  public  evening  schools  is  in  a  most  un- 
satisfactory state.  This  instruction  should  be  either  improved  or 
entirely  abolished.  As  at  present  conducted,  it  does  not  produce  gradu- 
ates well  trained  in  commercial  subjects  and  capable  of  doing  good 
practical  work. 

Information  on  vocational  opportunities  has  been  best  pre- 
sented in  Boston  through  its  Women's  Municipal  League.  The 
League's  studies  have  had  in  mind  the  qualitative  value  of  instruc- 
tion given  in  private,  public  and  philanthropic  schools.  Boston  has 
:-et  a  standard  for  other  cities  to  follow.  In  New  York,  no  such 
detailed   information   as   to   schools   and   courses   has    thus    far   been 

106 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  107 

made.  A  pamphlet  in  the  form  of  a  small  directory  of  trade,  indus- 
trial and  art  schools  in  Greater  New  York  was  compiled  by  Miss 
Mary  Flexner,  and  was  published  three  years  ago  by  the  Henry 
Street  Settlement.  This  gave  the  information  as  to  vocational  op- 
portunities arranged  by  schools.  A  pamphlet  has  recently  been  com- 
piled by  Miss  May  E.  Rivkin  for  the  Hebrew  Educational  Society 
of  Brooklyn  which  gives  information  in  regard  to  trade  instruc- 
tion in  Greater  New  York,  arranged  according  to  occupation.  This 
also  is  in  the  nature  of  a  directory  of  information  for  parents,  pupils, 
teachers  and  vocational  counsellors. 

New  York  must  proceed  further  in  its  study  of  vocational  oppor- 
limities  and  in  fixing  a  basis  for  the  standardization  of  instruction 
in  industrial,  commercial,  art  and  professional  courses  and  schools. 


OPPORTUNITIES     FOR     VOCATIONAL     TRAINING     IN 

BOSTON 

Mrs.  Bryant  B.  Glenny 
Women's    Municipal    League,    Boston 

In  the  Women's  ^Municipal  League  of  Boston,  the  Department 
of  Education  is  one  of  four  large  sections.  This  Education  Depart- 
ment is  sub-divided  into  two  working  Committees,  one  on  the  "Ex- 
tended Use  of  School  Buildings,"  and  one  on  "Opportunities  for 
Vocational  Training."  As  Chairman  of  the  last  named  Committee,  [ 
have  been  asked  to  report  its  three  years  of  life. 

Two  years  ago.  the  first  National  Conference  on  \'ocational  Guid- 
ance was  held  in  Boston,  under  the  auspices  of  the  \'ocation  Bureau 
and  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

At  the  time  of  the  Boston  Conference,  my  Committee  had 
merely  outlined  a  "Plan"  and  a  working  "Method,"  and  we  had 
issued  but  one  Chart  showing  "Opportunities  for  Industrial  Educa- 
tion." Since  that  Conference,  we  have  constructed  and  published  six 
Charts  in  seventeen  section,  representing  as  many  types  of  educational 
training. 

By  your  courtesy  to  the  League,  the  whole  number  of  Charts,  as 
jaiblished  to  date,  is  hung  in  the  exhibit  of  this  Conference  at  the  New 
York  Public  Library. 

The  Committee  of  the  League  this  year  is  compiling  a  "Hand- 
book" of  all  Chart  information  and  material ;  designed  especially  to 
meet  the  needs  of  Vocation  Counselors  and  teachers."  This  "Hand- 
book" is  to  be  issued  in  the  Spring  of  1913. 

Four  vears  ago  Mrs.  Ella  L^man  Cabot,  a  Member  of  the  State 


lOS 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 


Board  of  Education  of  Massachusetts,  was  appointed  to  develop  the 
Kducation  Department  of  the  Women's  Municipal  League.  Mrs. 
Carot  proposed  that  the  League,  as  a  civic  organization,  should  gather 
inforination  concerning  the  Boston  Schools,  offering  opportunities  for 
\ 'ocational  Training.  This  idea  met  with  the  hearty  approval  of  her 
colleagues  on  the  Board. 

The  members  of  the  Boston  School  Committee  seconded  our  sug- 
gestion. The  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  agreed  to  use  the  infor- 
mation for  guiding  pupils  to  further  preparation  for  wage  earning  oc- 
cupations. Mr.  Bloomfield,  Director  of  the  Vocation  Bureau,  the 
leading  organization  in  Boston  for  Vocational  Guidance,  strongly 
favored  the  plan,  as  the  information  concerning  the  schools  would  be 
of  service  to  the  \'ocation  Counselors,  newly  appointed  in  each  Public 
School. 

Mr.  Bloom  field  had  been  requested  by  the  Boston  Superintendent 
of  Schools  to  train  these  Counselors  for  their  novel  positions..  He 
foresaw  an  immediate  use  for  the  information  in  graphic  form.  Con- 
sequently, we  decided  first  to  compile  and  issue  the  Charts,  leaving 
the  more  formal  directory  to  grow  from  the  accumulation  of  Chart 
jnaterial. 

The  aim  of  our  Committee  was  to  study  the  opportunities  pre- 
sented for  Vocational  Training  in  and  around  Boston,  especially  those 
offered  by  educational  and  philanthropic  institutions,  and  to  make  the 
result  of  this  study  easily  accessible  to  children,  parents,  and  teachers, 
rnd  all  interested  in  giving  vocational  counsel. 

Our  Plan  was  as  follows : 

Plan  of  Work. 

1.  To  prepare  a  series  of  maps  showing  the  distribution  of  educa- 
tional agencies  and  resources. 

2.  To  prepare  a  Directory  of  these  educational  agencies  for  individual 
and  community  use,  and  issue  this  material  in  Chart  form  periodi- 
cally. 

3.  To  prepare  reports  upon  the  character  and  scope  of  the  work  of 
these  institutions. 

/,  As  a  result  of  this  study  to  offer  constructive  suggestions,  so  that 
there  would  be  less  over-lapping  and  less  waste  of  energ>-  and 
money,  and  more  effective  co-operation. 

In  short,  this  plan  of  work  was  intended  to  find  the  opportunity, 
study  and  describe  it,  point  it  out  to  those  seeking  it,  and  endeavor  to 
improve  it  by  Charting  it  and  thus  comparing  it  publiclv  and  imper- 
5onaily  with  similar  opportunities. 

Our  Methods  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  Plan  were  as 
follows : 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  109 

Methods. 

1.  To  catalogue  and  classify  as  completely  as  possible  the  educational 
agencies  of  Boston. 

2.  To  collect  printed  reports  from  these  institutions  and  make  digests 
of  them. 

3.  To  send  out  special  lists  of  questions  to  get  needed  information 
not  given  in  the  printed  reports. 

4      To  visit  the  most  important  institutions. 

5.  To  confer  with  individuals  and  representatives  of  organizations 
who  were  interested  in  the  work  of  these  agencies. 

6.  To  form  Advisory  Committees  composed  of  experts  for  each  type 
of  educational  training  to  be  studied. 

7.  To  find  out  what  had  been  done  along  this  line  of  investigation, 
either  in  Boston  or  elsewhere. 

To  summarize : 

We  hoped,  by  an  effective  combination  of  Plan  arid  Method,  so  Lo 
pioneer  a  survey  of  Boston's  vocational  opportunities,  that  other  cities 
wishing  to  make  a  similar  survey  might  benefit  by  our  successes  and 
failures. 

We  now  hope  that  the  result  of  the  League's  study,  modified  to 
suit  the  needs  of  other  communities,  may  be  the  means  of  saving  much 
time  and  expense.  We  also  hope  that  it  may  prove  to  be  a  useful 
contribution  to  the  Vocational  Guidance  Movement. 

We  would  like  to  go  even  farther  and  suggest  that  the  result  of 
cur  experience  should  serve  as  a  point  of  departure  for  a  far  more 
difficult  and  hazardous  task — that  of  improving  the  opportunities  by 
urging  higher  standards  or  ideals  for  the  schools. 

I  use  the  terms  "improving"  and  "standards"  advisedly  and  cau- 
tiously. 

I  use  them  for  our  purposes  to  mean: 
\ .     Employing  a  tested  method  for  selecting  and  emphasizing  the  best 

schools,  and 
2.     Assembling  a  body  of  determining  facts — indicating  the  superi- 
ority of  the  schools  so  selected. 

Used  in  this  limited  sense  this  standardizing  process  seems  to  ne 
the  logical  approach  to  some  form  of  state  regulation  and  control  of 
private  vocational  schools,  operated  for  profit.  Such  state  control 
should  provide  for  the  expression  of  individuality  of  all  workers  con- 
cerned— rather  than  for  its  suppression. 

As  the  first  step  in  the  preparation  of  the  Charts,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sub-divide  the  types  of  education  offered  by  the  schools.  We 
obtained  advice  for  this  classification  by  issuing  a  circular  letter  to 
?ome  twenty  educational  experts  in  Boston,  Massachusetts  and  New 


.j^,  \UCAriO.NAL    TRAINING 

York.     From  their  suggestions,  the  following  outline  was  prepared 
.ind  has  been  followed  for  the  Chart  Series: 
Charts   by  Number. 
Chart  1  .—Opportunities  for  Industrial  Training. 
Ciijjrt  _>.— Opportunities  in  Day  Continuation  Schools. 
Qjjjrt   s  —Opportunities  for  Commercial  Training. 
Chart  4.-0rganized  Opportunities   for  the  Physically  Handicappea 

in  Massachusetts. 
Chart  5.-Opportunities    in    Settlements    and    other    Neighborhood 

Centers. 
Chart  6.— Opportunities  in  Professional  Schools. 
(;ii;^rt  ;.— Opportunities  in  Art  and  Music  Schools. 
Chart  8.— Opportunities  ofifered  by  City  Wide  Agencies  other  than 

Public  Schools. 

All  but  two  of  these  Charts  have  been  issued.  Number  2— "Op- 
portunities in  Day  Continuation  Schools,"  and  Number  8 — "Oppor- 
tunities in  City  Wide  Agencies,  other  than  Public  Schools,"  are  in 
the  process  of  preparation. 

Our  lifth  step  under  Methods  was  to  "Confer  with  individuals 
Lnd  representatives  of  educational  organizations." 

These  conferences,  intensive  and  extensive,  contributed  richly  to 
cur  enlightenment.  As  a  result,  we  have  accumulated  many  valuable 
suggestions  from  educators  and  from  persons  outside  the  related  organ- 
izations. Those  persons  who  accepted  our  office  hospitality  have 
also  contributed  much  and  have  nobly  shared  our  responsibilities. 

These  frequent  conferences  were  composed  of  State  and  City 
authorities  in  education  and  sociology;  educational  experts  in  colleges, 
Directors  and  Principals  of  public,  private  and  endowed  schools;  gov'- 
erning  boards  of  private  and  philanthropic  organizations  and  public 
spirited  individuals. 

We  diligently  searched  for  schools  in  directories,  telephone  booics, 
and  school  reports.  We  consulted  neighborhood  workers,  labor  unions, 
and  every  other  available  source.  Our  office  files  are  now  supplied  with 
written  and  printed  information  concerning  some  four  hundred  of 
Boston's  educational  agencies.  As  the  work  enlarged,  we  added  new 
members  to  the  Committee,  and  assigned  each  one  some  definite 
responsibility. 

As  we  worked  our  difficult  way  through  these  general  conditions 
for  growth  and  approached  the  more  intensive  methods  of  Chart  con- 
struction, the  introduction  of  rather  large  groups  of  persons  for  investi- 
gation purposes  became  a  necessity. 

The  visits  to  schools  on  the  first  Chart  were  made  by   a  paid 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  HI 

investigator.  The  work  of  investigation  for  all  the  other  seventeen 
Chart  sections  has  been  done  by  groups  of  undergraduate  students 
from  Radcliffe  and  Wellesley  Colleges,  Boston  University  and  the 
Boston  School  for  Social  Workers.  The  reports  of  these  under- 
graduate students  have  in  part  been  tabulated  by  graduate  students, 
from  the  Departments  of  Education  and  Economics  in  Harvard  and 
Radcliffe  Colleges. 

Although  this  student  work  was  accredited  as  part  of  the  college 
course,  it  was  planned  by  the  League  committee  and  carried  on  under 
its  immediate  direction.  During  each  semester,  the  Chairman  met  the 
students  weekly  in  the  regular  college  class  rooms.  The  questionaires 
to  be  used  by  the  students  were  carefully  framed  in  the  office  of  the 
League  by  groups  of  experts  for  each  type  of  education  to  be  studied. 
A  questionaire  was  given  to  each  student,  together  with  former  Charts 
and  all  obtainable  printed  matter  on  Guidance.  Familiarity  with  all 
this  class  room  material  was  gradually  acquired.  The  schools  to  be 
visited  were  apportioned  to  the  students.  Printed  reports  were  ob- 
tained from  these  schools  and  given  to  the  students.  The  questionaires 
V.  ere  answered  as  far  as  possible  from  these  printed  reports.  Letters 
from  the  League  office  were  sent  to  Principals  and  Directors  of  all 
schools,  explaining  the  purpose  of  the  study,  and  asking  for  their  co- 
operation. In  these  letters  we  asked  the  heads  of  the  schools  to  receive 
cur  representative— the  College  Student — to  assist  her  by  answering 
further  questions  than  were  covered  in  the  printed  report,  and  to  verify 
fdl  the  facts  which  were  to  constitute  the  student's  written  report  on 
that  school. 

The  student  then  visited  the  school  or  institution  one,  two  or  three 
times,  as  occasion  required.  In  each  case  the  arrangements  for  the 
visits  were  made  by  telephone.  This  detail  was  necessary,  to  insure 
the  visit  and  to  save  the  time  of  both  persons. 

The  student's  first  written  report  consisted  of  answers  to  every 
question  contained  in  the  questionaire.     We  obliged  them  to  record 
answers  to  these  questions  in  one  of  four  possible  ways : 
Either — 

First,  by  giving  the  correct  information  in  full,  as  received  directly 

from  the  principal, — 

Or— 

Second,  by  writing  against  the  question  "Answer  not  obtainable." 
if  such  were  the  case, — 

Or— 

Third,  by  writing  against  the  question  "Answer  refused,"  if  in- 
formation was  withheld, — 


J  J.J  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

Or-  ,  .        . 

fourth,  by  writing  'None"  against  the  question— meaning  that 
nothing  corresponding  to  the  question  obtained  in  the  school  or 
institution. 

Let  nie  say  here,  that  the  League's  relation  with  the  colleges  was 
reciprocal,  and  for  the  information  received  from  the  student  investi- 
gations, the  League  was  required  to  give  systematic  training  to  the 
students  in  civic  field  work.  In  every  case,  the  students  from  the  dif- 
ferent departments,  volunteered  through  the  Professors,  for  the  field 
work.  The  Professors  valued  the  opportunity  to  offer  as  thesis  sub- 
jects a  live  and  needed  investigation  which  would  bear  fruit  at  once  in 
the  Charts. 

The  method  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  three  years,  and 
has  proved  effective,  both  as  a  training  in  civic  work,  for  the  student, 
and  as  a  means  of  obtaining  the  needed  preliminary  information  for 
the  League  Charts. 

The  student's  written  reports  on  the  visited  schools  were  carefully 
marked  as  thesis  papers.  They  were  returned  with  the  corrections 
and  were  re-written  by  the  students. 

Before  the  finished  reports  were  finally  handed  in,  each  student 
was  obliged  to  select  from  her  written  data,  the  descriptive  material  in 
facts  destined  for  the  Chart.  As  a  guide,  she  was  given  a  slip  of  paper 
some  6  X  40  inches,  marked  off  in  sections,  corresponding  to  the  Chart 
divisions.  Each  section  was  capped  by  the  suitable  column  headings, 
as  follows : 

Name  and  Location 

J'urpose  , 

Courses  and  Subjects 
xMIied  Subjects  and  Special  Features 
Requirements  for  Admission 
Tuition  and  Expense 
Season  and  Length  of  Course 
Placing  of  Students 
This  provided  each  student  with  a  transverse  section  of  the  Chart . 
.she  was  helping  to  construct.     Her  task  was  to  re-arrange  the  facts 
ss  phrased  in  her  report  and  reproduce  the  story  of  her  school  in  the 
condensed  form  of  "text  tabulation."    Each  group  of  connected  facts 
was  to  be  inserted  on  the  slip  under  the  appropriate  column  heading. 
By  these  systematic  method-steps,   the  student   converted    facts   into 
form  ready  for  Chart  construction. 

The  completed  slips  were  brought  to  the  office  and  were  attached 
to  large  pieces  of  cotton  cloth,  8  or  10x6  feet. 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  Hi? 

Then  the  principal  of  each  school  so  listed,  was  invited  to  the 
office  and  requested : — 

1st.  To  accept  the  condensed  form  of  text  tabulation  we  had 
adopted  for  the  Chart  Series. 

2d.  To  agree  to  such  arrangements  of  facts  as  were  necessary  for 
Chart  uniformity. 

3d.  To  cheerfully  assent  to  such  modification  of  the  story  of  his 
school  as  were  necessary  for  Chart  purposes. 

This  scrutiny  of  our  work  by  each  school  principal,  created  for 
our  aid  impersonal,  comparative  criticism. 

I  want  to  emphasize  this  comparative  method  of  Chart  construc- 
tion, as  its  vital  and  most  important  feature — important  because  of 
its  value  as  a  truth  producing  process.  Auto-activity  and  auto-sug- 
gestion, on  the  part  of  each  principal,  were  the  two  forces  brought  into 
play. 

The  bold  and  impersonal  comparison  of  his  school  with  others 
of  the  same  type,  stimulated  searching  self  criticism. 

Before  this  court  of  self  examination,  the  principal  as  an  indi- 
vidual ceased  to  exist,  apart  from  his  work.  Merged  with  his  work, 
both  became  parts  of  an  educational  unit,  namely,  the  type  of  school 
we  were  endeavoring  to  represent.  These  reactions  constituted  some  of 
our  most  valuable  experiences. 

We  thus  gained  two  notable  results : — 

First,  the  simple  truth  concerning  that  school;  and  second,  a 
desire  to  raise  the  standard  of  teaching  in  that  school.  Where  weak- 
ness was  apparent,  efforts  were  frequently  made  by  the  principals  to 
gather  strength  before  our  League  Chart  was  sent  to  print. 

Omitted  schools  were  asked  for  and  the  answer  was  always  given 
that  they  were  being  "reserved  for  further  study,  and  might  appear 
m  a  subsequent  Chart  issue."  In  other  words,  the  value  of  the  omitted 
school  was  a  matter  of  doubt.  This  oblivion  just  averted,  aroused  those 
principals  whose  schools  were  obviously  on  the  danger  line,  to  a  like 
future  possibility.  The  reform  element  in  this  comparative  method 
began  to  operate,  as  the  principals  themselves  became  their  own 
judges. 

Here  confronting  them  was  a  tabulated  record  of  schools,  vitally 
concerning  them  all.  This  investigation  had  been  instigated  by  a  public 
spirited  organization,  actuated  by  motives  above  criticism  or  reproach. 

College  students  in  field  work  training  had  been  tlieir  visitors. 
No  inquisitiveness  or  curiosity  could  be  detected  anywhere.  Persons 
v/hom  they  knew  and  respected — leaders  in  the  type  of  education  in 
v^hich  they  were  becoming  experts  through  experience — had  framed 
the  questions  used  by  the  visiting  students.     The  earnest  and  evident 


j,^  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

desire  of  the  League  Committee  to  do  the  best  possible  piece  of  con- 

srructive  work  provided  a  happy  medium  for  the  interchange  of  ideas. 
Last,  hut  not  least,  the  right  sort  of  publicity  given  each  school, 

not  the  advertising  of  educational  wares,  became  a  matter  of  pride 

-bared  by  all  alike. 

I  Iiavc  dwelt  on  this  comparative  method  of  Chart  construction 

for  several  reasons : 

/:,>jr/_Because  it  quickly  clears  away  personalities  and  small  dif- 
ferences. 

Second— Because,  the  small  things  out  of  the  way,  it  reveals  the  im- 
portance of  further  improving  the  schools. 

';7,,>t/_Because  it  indicates  the  relationship  of  our  study  of  "Oppor- 
tunities" to  methods  of  instruction ;  to  the  curriculum,  and  to  the 
possibilities  of  placement  or  employment  as  a  result  of  increased 
efficiency. 

Fourth — Because  it  provides  an  orderly  system  for  Chart  revision. 
This  revising  and  re-issuing  of  the  Charts  should  take  place 
automatically  as  the  character  of  the  information  changes  or 
passes  out  of  date. 

The  verification  of  information  completed — the  office  door  closed 
on  the  last  school  principal  or  advisor — the  work  of  preparing  for  the 
printer  began. 

Members  of  the  League  Committee  studied  the  material  with 
the  utmost  care  for  Chart  uniformity.  The  sections  prepared  by  the 
students,  from  right  to  left,  were  studied  in  column  form  for  the  per- 
fecting of  text  tabulation.  Typewritten  cards  replaced  the  slip  sections. 
\\'lien  perfected,  these  cards  were  carefully  numbered  and  lettered, 
according  to  a  dummy  key.  The  cards  were  then  detached  in  order 
from  the  cotton  sheet; — tied  in  bundles  and  were  dispatched  to  the 
printing  office. 

Galley  proofs  were  sent  to  each  member  of  the  Committee, — the 
corrections  returned,  and  the  result  of  the  entire  process,  the  Charts, 
ir  card-board  and  paper  form,  were  ultimately  distributed. 

Our  method  of  distribution  is  as  follows : 

To  all  Boston  Public  Schools  from  the  office  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Education. 

From  our  own  office  to  all  contributing  private  and  endowed 
schools,  to  selected  factories,  and  to  the  addresses  on  our  mailmg  list. 

The  Charts  in  folder  form  are  sent  to  inquiring  civic  and  educa- 
tional centers  throughout  the  country. 

At  present,  the  mailing  list  outside  of  Boston  consists  of  about 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  ll-j 

eighty  names  of  organizations  and  individuals  in  twenty-six  different 
cities,  representing  seventeen  States  and  Canada. 

I  mention  our  audience  to  show  you  how  interest  has  grown  in 
the  study  of  opportunities  for  vocational  training. 

II. 

I  want  to  mention  brietiy  some  of  the  results  of  our  costly  experi- 
ment. We  had  learned  by  experience  that  a  real  demand  existed  for 
this  kind  of  information,  that  practical  workers  in  vocational  train- 
ing were  without  a  method  guiding  them  to  the  opportunities  already 
in  existence.  We  found  also  that  these  practical  persons  as  princi- 
pals of  schools,  and  Directors  of  educational  institutions,  wanted  that 
information  concerning  schools,  tested,  verified  and  presented  in  classi- 
fied form. 

Another  result  of  our  study  was  that  we  were  led,  through  experi- 
ence, to  recognize  the  need  of  setting  standards  for  these  typical  oppor- 
tunities. We  were  told  over  and  again  that  the  fixing  of  definite  stand- 
ards in  the  form  of  desirable  aims  and  principles  to  be  realized  for 
the  schools  was  the  next  and  much  needed  contribution  to  vocational 
education. 

To  catalogue,  classify,  list  and  describe  the  schools  had  been  to 
us  like  forcing  a  path  through  the  mist.  In  reality,  we  were  laying 
stress  upon  the  necessity  for  higher  standards,  which  means  subordina- 
tion to  the  same  controlling  principles  and  aims  rather  than  mere 
mechanical  uniformity.  We  had  only  made  a  beginning  in  training  public 
opinion  to  want  and  demand  the  best  schools.  Our  Chart  Series  em- 
jjhasized  the  higher  requirement.  It  seemed  to  be  our  duty  to  attempt 
through  further  co-operation,  to  increase  and  make  public  more  knowl- 
edge about  the  schools.  We  stood  committed  to- initiate  an  effort  to 
prevent  the  exploitation  of  youth,  which  we  found  in  open  and  un- 
challenged practice.  The  results  of  Chart  publicity  revealed  clearly  this 
community  need. 

Numerous  victims  of  unregulated,  private  vocational  schools, 
operated  for  profit,  were  cited  by  social  workers.  School  principals 
and  other  educators  testified  to  this  enormous  waste  of  life  and  re- 
sources. We  soon  detected  a  rather  large  group  of  what  we  term 
"doubtful  schools."  These  "doubtful  schools"  were  noted  carefully, 
recorded  and  reserved  as  I  have  said  for  "further  investigation." 

This  exploitation  evil  seemed  to  us  so  great  that  we  appointed  a 
special  committee  on  "Ways  and  Means"  to  try  to  remedy  the  situ- 
ation. 

It  was  two  years  ago  that  our  Committee  held  this  Conference, 


jjjj  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

with  a  group  ot   --i-ecial  educational  leaders.     The  members  of  the 

Committee  were:  .      o-i 

The  State  Commissioner  of  Education  of  Massachusetts;  ihe 
Director  of  the  Vocation  Bureau;  a  representative  of  the  Education 
Committee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce;  the  President  of  our 
League :  and  the  President  of  the  Girls'  Trade  Education  League. 

We  wanted  to  ascertain  how  far  we  might  go  in  preparing  a  bill 
for  the  Legislature,  proposing  some  form  of  control  for  private  schools 
operated  for  profit.  We  had  the  conviction  that  a  sort  of  state  control 
might  be  devised,  that  would  materially  aid  the  attainment  of  higher 
ideals  than  prevailed. 

There  were  two  important  results  of  that  conference :  One  was — 
that  a  further  and  more  intensive  study  of  commercial  training  was 
begim.  The  other  was — the  recognition  of  an  existing  tendency  towards 
some  form  of  state  control  for  such  schools,  this  sentiment  naturally 
toUowing  the  regulation  of  various  other  profit  schemes,  such  as  mov- 
ing picture  shows,  manicuring  establishments,  etc. 

The  members  of  that  special  committee  agreed  that  the  best  and 
surest  methods  of  ultimately  accomplishing  such  state  control  and  so 
conserve  educational  forces  were: 

First — To  accumulate  patiently  and  accurately  facts  concerning  all 
private  vocational  schools,  operated  for  profit. 

Second — To  trace  by  special  investigation  the  truth  concerning  "doubt- 
ful schools." 

Third — To  give  publicity  on  the  Charts  only  to  such  schools  as  were 
accredited  by  whatever  standards  were  at  our  command. 

Fourth — To  win  other  organizations  gradually  to  concerted  action  in 
framing  and  supporting  such  legislative  measures  as  seemed  best 
when  the  opportune  time  came. 

Certain  types  of  schools  listed  have  yielded  readily  to  the  demand 
for  higher  standards.  It  is  necessary  to  develop  this  process  much 
further,  however,  and  beyond  the  limited  resources  of  any  civic  organ- 
ization. To  attempt  to  develop  better  standards  for  the  schools  we  need 
the  unlimited  resources  of  College  and  University  class  rooms  and 
laboratories. 

I  want  to  give  examples  of  our  simple  attempts  to  find  standards. 

In  Chart  No.  i  for  the  choice  of  industrial  schools,  we  followed 
the  advice  of  leaders  in  industrial  education,  such  men  as  Mr.  Walter 
B.^  Russell,  Director  of  the  Franklin  Union;  and  Mr.  Arthur 
WiLLiSTOx,  Director  of  the  great  Wentworth  Institute  and  Founda- 
tion ;  and  also  leaders  of  Trade  Unions. 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  117 

For  Chart  No.  3  on  Commercial  Schools,  we  consulted  the  Spe- 
cial Commercial  Council,  composed  of  the  Boston  public  school  teachers 
of  commercial  branches,  as  well  as  the  Directors  of  endowed  schools, 
and  business  men  and  women.  The  whole  study  of  commercial  train- 
ing, however,  was  so  difficult,  that  we  decided  to  list  only  public  and 
endowed  schools,  leaving  all  private  commercial  schools  for  further 
investigation. 

For  Chart  No.  4  we  found  uniformly  high  standards  in  the  edu- 
cation of  physically  handicapped  mentally  normal  children  and  we 
refreshed  ourselves  by  close  co-operation  with  the  devoted  men  and 
women  directors  of  these  institutions  throughout  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Two  years  ago  we  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  Child  Help- 
mg  Department  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  to  aid  the  cause  of 
guidance  by  financing  a  study  of  the  vocational  needs  of  physically 
handicapped  children,  who  were  especially  trained  in  these  splendid 
institutions  to  be  partially  or  wholly  self-supporting. 

What  is  needed  is  a  tield  worker  who  could  do  individual  casework 
with  children  graduating  from  one  or  more  schools  for  the  physically 
handicapped — one  who  could  help  them  find  employment,  and  who 
would  gather  together  all  availing  information  on  the  subject  and  bring 
it  continually  to  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the  physically 
handicapped,  thus  demonstrating  the  need  for  a  permanent  vocational 
guidance  agent. 

On  Chart  No.  5  for  classification  and  standards  of  Settlement 
Opportunities,  we  used  Mr.  Wood's  and  Mr.  Kennedy's  Sage  Founda- 
tion report  on  Settlements. 

On  Chart  No.  6,  the  section  of  the  Professional  Chart  on  "Train- 
..ing  Schools  for  Nurses,"  it  was  comparatively  simple  to  gather  together 
the  leaders  of  the  nursing  profession  in  Massachusetts,  These  trained, 
experienced  women  and  certain  hospital  authorities  met  in  office  con- 
ference to  classify  the  training  schools.  The  classification  of  the 
American  Association  of  Hospital  Superintendents  was  adopted.  Only 
such  training  schools  for  nurses  as  were  affiliated  with  hospitals,  having 
an  average  of  at  least  thirty -five  beds  were  selected.  This  classifica- 
tion eliminated  at  once  all  small  training  schools  connected  with 
private  or  inadequate  hospitals. 

We  found  that  the  New  York  State  Board  of  Regents  maintains 
the  highest  standard  of  requirements,  covering  the  enrollment  of  appli- 
cants, for  the  training  of  nurses. 

The  Board  publishes  an  accredited  list  of  training  schools, 
throughout  the  United  States,  conforming  to  this  standard  and  offer- 
ing at  least  two  years  of  continuous    training.      Graduates  of  these 


jjj<  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 


.ccrc( 


•ditccl  training  schools  are  eligible  for  enrollment  in  the  Federal 
KtVi  Cro«^s  Service.  This  eligibility  for  enrollment  in  Government 
Service  supposedly  constitutes  the  highest  efficiency  in  that  field.  The 
U  S  iUircau  of  Education  has  recently  published  a  monograph  on  the 
'Educational  Status  of  Nursing,"  by  Miss  Adelaide  Nutting.  Direc- 
tor of  the  ■•Department  of  Nursing  and  Health/'  in  Teachers'  College. 
This  work  ought  to  help  enormously  to  improve  methods  for  the  train- 
ing oi  nurses  and  tend  to  eliminate  unfit  schools  and  to  educate  public 
opinion  to  connect  the  profession  of  nursing  with  the  ideals  of  public 

health. 

.-Vnother  instance  where  this  Method  was  applicable.  When  con- 
structing C7;a;/  Xo.  7  on  Art  Schools,  we  quoted  our  authority  for 
the  selecting  of  Massachusetts  Schools  as  follows:  'The  classification 
of  tiie  schools  listed  on  this  Art  Chart  and  the  qualifications  for  scholar- 
ship in  them  are  the  same  as  those  mentioned  in  the  issue  of  19 12 
of  the  American  Art  Annual — a  standard  publication  affiliated  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Arts."  This  American  Federation  of 
Arts  is  a  Federal  Organization — its  Honorary  President  being  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Also  for  Chart  No.  7  the  choice  of  Music  Schools  is  explained 
on  the  Chart  as  follows:  "The  standards  and  qualifications  used  in 
listing  music  schools  w-ere  suggested  by  a  report  on  'Music  Education 
in  the  United  States,'  by  Prof.  Arthur  L.  Manchester,  issued  under 
the  auspices  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education."  This  is  an- 
other important  monograph  tending  to  educate  public  opinion  and 
improve  music  education. 

In  this  manner,  w^e  strove  to  ally  our  work  with  standard  publi- 
cations and  related  State  and  Federal  Organizations.  We  eagerly 
accepted  the  offers  of  these  co-operating  organizations  to  exhibit  the 
j.repared  Charts  at  State,  National,  and  even  International  Congresses. 
For  example — the  Nurses'  Chart  was  exhibited  this  summer  at 
Chicago  at  the  time  of  the  National  Congress  of  Nurses;  and  at 
Cologne.  Germany,  at  the  International  Congress  of  Nurses. 

Professor  Lew^s  of  Tufts  College,  the  Vice-President  of  the 
National  ^Nlusic  Teachers'  Association,  co-operated  with  us  in  the 
construction  of  the  Music  Chart,  and  agreed  to  carry  copies  of  the 
Chart  to  the  National  Meeting  in  July  of  his  organization,  and  to  bring 
our  ambition  to  improve  music  education  before  a  committee  organized 
for  that  purpose. 

One  other  important  element  in  establishing  standards  was  the 
use  of  what  we  called  "inspirational  notes."  The  condensed  arrange - 
nient  of  our  information  on  the  Charts  in  the  form  of  text  tabulation 
left  us  no  opportunity  in  the  main  body  of  the  Chart  for  the  aims  of 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  110 

the  types  of  education  we  were  endeavoring  to  describe.  We  soon 
began  to  insert  at  the  top  and  the  bottom  of  the  Charts,  explanatory 
notes  addressed  to  the  public,  to  employers  of  labor,  to  prospective 
students  and  to  parents.  Our  aim  was  to  indicate  from  these  notes 
the  relationship  between  the  vocational  opportunity  and  the  group  of 
persons  it  sought  to  reach. 

Many  of  these  notes  were  contributed  by  the  Directors  of  the 
schools  charted.  For  instance — the  Director  of  the  Hebrew  Industrial 
School.  Miss  Golde  Bamber,  formulated  the  following  resume  of  her 
twenty-five  years  of  experience: 

"Respect  for  tlie  home ;  appreciation  of  law  and 
order;  loyalty  to  the  Government — qualities  which 
go  to  the  making  of  the  desirable  citizen  are  the 
essential  products  of  right  training  in  the  schools."' 

This  is  really  the  key-note  for  the  entire  Chart  Series — it  is 
printed  on  Chart  No.  i. 

Dr.  Luther  Gulick  permitted  for  our  Schools  of  Dancing,  the 
use  of  the  short  introduction  to  his  standard  book  "The  Healthful  Art 
of  Dancing."  The  addition  of  this  introduction  to  our  Chart  immedi- 
ately placed  the  selected  schools  in  the  first  rank  and  gave  us  all  needed 
ruthority  for  the  exclusion  of  schools  of  doubtful  value. 

For  the  construction  of  the  Nurses'  Chart — the  Superintendents 
of  Allied  Hospitals  were  invited  to  assist.  These  physicians  became 
practically  interested,  and  the  note  at  the  upper  right  hand  of  the 
Nurses'  Chart  represents  their  views  as  to  the  "fundamental  qualifica- 
tions of  a  good  nurse." 

The  Settlement  Chart  notes  indicate  the  ideal  types  of  citizenship 
and  patriotism,  and  emphasize  the  development  of  the  extended  use 
of  school  buildings  as  social  centers. 

I  mention  only  these  especially  helpful  inspirational  key-notes, 
r.nd  beg  that  you  will  read  for  yourselves,  when  you  study  the  Charts 
in  the  Public  Library  Exhibit. 

From  what  I  have  told  you  of  our  high  aims,  you  will  agree,  I  am 
sure,  that  one  of  the  most  vital  requirements  of  our  work  was  that 
the  Women's  Mvmicipal  League  and  the  Boston  School  Committee, 
should  give  publicity  only  to  such  schools  as  were  well  organized,  well 
equipped  and  of  some  proven  value  to  the  community. 

The  Boston  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  the  members  of  the 
Boston  School  Committee  accepted  the  Charts  and  hung  them  in  the 
public  schools  on  the  express  condition  that  no  school  should  be  listed 
that  was  at  all  doubtful.  In  working  up  to  their  expectations,  we 
fearlessly  and  heavily  leaned  upon  the  best  advice  and  co-operation  of 


j^,^  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

city,  state  and  national  educators,  public  and  private,  and  we  were 
nlw'avs  cordially  received  and  ably  assisted. 

It  is  not  possible  in  a  brief  statement,  such  as  this  fully  to 
acknowledge  our  debt  of  gratitude  to  co-operating  individuals  an'^ 
organizations.  These  friends  willingly  shared  our  burden  of  respon- 
.sibility.  Our  experience  in  retrospect  convinces  me  that  such  working 
harmony,  coupled  with  wholesome  criticism  and  a  willingness  to  accept 
and  act  upon  mutual  suggestion,  is  absolutely  essential  in  this  compli- 
cating cause  of  Vocational  Guidance. 

If  the  result  of  our  League  study  is  valuable  as  a  working  method, 
it  is  because  we  have  been  ably,  wisely  and  cheerfully  assisted.  The 
part  that  the  Women's  Municipal  League  of  Boston  plays  in  the  local 
\'ocational  Guidance  work,  is  its  study  of  Boston's  opportunities  for 
Vocational  Training— these  opportunities  to  be  suggested  to  the  pupils 
by  the  \'ocation  Counselors  and  others,  after  they  have  been  guided, 
tv  the  work  of  the  \'ocation  Bureau,  to  a  fit  choice  of  a  pursuit. 

A  report  at  length  of  two  years'  work  of  the  Committee  may  be 
found  in  the  25th  Annual  Report  on  Industrial  Education,  issued  in 
1911.  bv  the  L'nited  States  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

In  reporting  briefly  to  you,  the  work  of  our  Committee,  as  a 
practical  study,  many  of  its  limitations  are  obvious — we  have  applied 
ourselves  directly  to  a  certain  circumscribed  field,  namely : 

First — How  we  could  wisely  select  and  classify  schools  as  oppor- 
tunities. 

Sccofid — What  we  could  find  out  about  these  schools  through  printed 
reports,  visits  and  from  asking  specific  questions. 

Third — How  we  could  safely  publish  this  information  and  make  it 
useful. 

Fourth — How  we  could  use  the  results  of  this  comparative  method  of 
publicity  to  improve  the  opportunities  for  the  benefit  of  prospec- 
tive wage  earners. 
Fifth — How  we  could  employ  "follow-up"  methods  of  inquiry  to  dis- 
cover the  practical  usefulness  of  the  information  charted. 
We  have  not  attempted  intensive  research  work  on  the  schools  or 
on  the  opportunities  with  reference  to  the  curriculum.    This  relation- 
ship of  the  opportunities   for  vocational  training  to  the   curriculum 
includes  the  point  of  view  of  the  employer  as  well,  and  implies  in- 
creased efficiency  through  improvement. 

Our  preliminary  study  is  purposely  restricted  from  larger  field  of 
mquir}-.  We  leave  untouched  many  tempting  phases  of  \'ocational 
Guidance. 

.    We  consider  that  all  larger  questions  of  guidance  belong  to  \'oca- 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  121 

tion  Bureaus  and  Committees  for  Vocational  direction,  within  the 
pubhc  school  system,  and  to  organizations,  equipped  with  special  rcr 
sources  for  acquiring  highly  specialized,  statistical  data. 

Our  Chart  purpose  in  the  large,  is  to  tell  school  children,  their 
I'arents  and  advisors,  what  opportunities  there  are  to  learn  systematized 
trades,  occupations,  crafts,  fine  arts  and  professions,  other  than  those 
requiring  for  entrance  a  college  degree. 

The  League  Committee  believes  that  such  a  preliminary  survey 
as  we  have  made,  or  one  with  its  essential  elements  modified  to  fit  vary- 
mg  conditions,  should  be  made  by  any  city  undertaking  a  propaganda 
of  Vocational  Education. 

Our  work  offers  a  first  step  or  aid  to  the  extended  and  more 
scientific  phases  of  Vocational  Guidance. 

To  Summarize  Briefly  Our  Charts  and  Our  Resources: 

The  Committee  on  "Opportunities  for  Vocational  Training"  oi 
the  Women's  Municipal  League  of  Boston,  has  been  engaged  on  this 
preliminary  study  for  three  years.  As  our  mailing  list  distributes  the 
Charts  generously  through  the  West  and  as  Boston  attracts  large  num- 
bers of  young  women  to  the  opportunities  for  professional  training, 
we  have  thought  it  helpful  to  suggest  on  the  professional  Chart  reliable 
Student  Homes  and  Student  Room  Registries. 

On 6  Charts 

In 17  Sections 

We  have  recommended 189  Schools  and  Institutions 

In  all  we  have  used   in  the  Committee  work  the  services  of : 
II  amateur  volunteers 
3  Harvard  graduate  students 
I  Radclifife  graduate  student 
90  undergraduate  students  for  field  work 
I  paid  research  student 
I  paid  Secretary 
and  a  small  army  of  advisors  and  contributors. 

We  have  expended  of  the  League's  finances,  about  $7,000,  of 
v/hich  sum  approximately  $1,000  was  for  printing  5.000  charts. 

With  these  figures,  I  close  my  report.  Thanking  you  heartily 
in  the  name  of  the  League  for  your  cordial  reception  of  its  representa- 
tive, and  for  your  careful  attention. 


Note  : — All  the  material  of  the  study  has  been  printed  as  the  "Handbook 
of  Opportunities  for  Vocational  Training  in  Boston."  This  may  be  obtained 
from  the  Educational  Department  of  the  Women's  Municipal  League.  6  Marl- 
borough Street,   Boston,  Mass.,  for  Sl.'ir,  net,  po.stpaid. 


y>2  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

THE    PLACE     OF    VOCATIONAL     GUIDANCE     IN     THE 
VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION    MOVEMENT 

Arthur  D.  Dean 
State  Education  Department,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

The  word  ••g-uidance"  has  a  very  gentle  sound.  There  are  various 
ways  of  guiding,  and  if  the  experts  are  to  guide  people,  they  must  have 
not  oniv  authority  given  by  law,  but  also  knowledge  of  conditions, 
go<.xl  judgment,  and  common  sense.  The  past  decade  has  been  marked 
1  y  the  amount  of  legislation  enacted  relative  to  guiding  people  to  better 
health,  to  better  housing,  to  better  marriages  and  to  better  living  as 
a  whole. 

There  are  at  least  six  important  events  in  one's  life.  The  first 
is  the  place  in  which  we  happen  to  be  born.  This  is  picked  out  for 
us.  The  individual  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  but  human  society  is 
trying  to  improve  various  communities  so  that  it  will  be  safer  for  an 
individual  to  be  born  in  one  of  them.  But  even  if  we  are  born  in 
ideal  communities,  the  element  of  fate  enters  in,  for  one  might  be 
born  in  the  East,  or  in  the  West,  or  in  Africa,  or  Alaska.  No  amount 
of  guidance  can  absolutely  control  the  significance  attached  to  the 
place  in  which  one  is  born. 

The  next  significant  event  in  one's  life  is  when  our  parents  are 
picked  out  for  use,  and  again  we  have  no  choice.  But  the  State  comes 
in  and  through  the  enforcement  of  certain  laws  and  through  the  study 
of  eugenics,  it  hopes  to  be  able  to  give  us  better  parents. 

The  third  important  event  is  when  w^e  choose  our  education.  This 
selection  is  of  tremendous  importance.  Yet,  after  all  is  said  and  done, 
there  still  remains  a  large  element  of  chance  which  no  amount  of 
vocational  guidance  can  correct. 

The  fourth  important  event  in  one's  life  is  when  one  selects  his 
job.  The  selection  of  the  latter  depends  much  upon  the  place  in  which 
he  is  living,  upon  the  interests  and  ideals  of  his  parents,  upon  tlie 
education  which  he  has  received,  upon  personal  whims,  and  also  upon 
personal  expectations.  While  we  may  do  much  in  the  line  of  vocational 
guidance  to  help  people  in  selecting  with  greater  care  their  life  work, 
at  the  same  time  we  must  remember  that  some  elements  of  fate,  of 
prejudices,  and  ignorance  will  still  exist  and  wall  influence  any  work 
v.hich  we  attempt  in  guiding  people  into  the  right  vocations. 

The  fifth  important  event  is  when  the  man  chooses  his  helpmate, 
or  the  woman  chooses  her  comrade.  The  significance  of  the  influence 
v.hich  one  party  may  exert  over  another  for  good  or  for  evil,,  for  higii 
<-'r  h,^y  standards  of  living,  for  high  or  mediocre  ideals,  has  probably 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  123 

as  much  to  do  with  the  success  of  an  individual  in  his  Hfe's  work  as 
any  vocational  guidance  bureau  could  ever  devise. 

Now,  if  we  have  no  control  over  the  place  of  birth,  no  control 
of  our  parents,  if  we  are  ignorant  of  the  educational  possibilities  of 
our  school  system,  if  we  fail  to  know  ourselves  and  know  how  we  fit 
in  with  a  probable  job.  and  if  we  marry  unwisely  or  untimely,  then 
there  is  but  one  thing  left  in  which  we  have  any  real  choice,  and  that 
i.s  whether  we  will  go  to  heaven  or  to  the  other  place.  This  we  seem 
to  have  under  control,  and  I  understand  that  the  reward  is  according 
lo  the  conduct  on  earth. 

So  far  I  have  tried  to  point  out  that  while  we  may  be  able  to  do 
much  of  value  in  lines  of  vocational  guidance,  at  the  same  time  there 
are  large  forces  at  work  w^hich  no  movement  like  ours  can  overcome; 
and  that  there  still  will  be  in  this  world  people  dissatisfied  with  the 
place  in  which  they  live,  the  home  which  they  have,  the  w^ork  which 
they  do,  with  their  parents  and  environment,  and  powerful  forces  will 
still  do  a  great  deal  to  control  the  education  which  people  will  get 
and  the  jobs  which  they  will  hold,  regardless  of  what  you  or  1  may 
be  able  to  accomplish. 

The  first  educational  guider  that  I  know  of  was  the  Son  of 
SiRACH.  He  lived  about  two  thousand  years  ago  and  his  philosophy 
has  been  carried  out  in  our  public  school  system  for  many  years.  He 
was  the  first  man  who  laid  down  some  very  definite  ways  in  which 
certain  people  should  be  educated  and  in  very  definite  ways  the  jobs 
that  they  should  follov;  and  the  way  they  should  follow  them.  He 
said,  for  example:  "The  wisdom  of  the  scribe  cometh  by  opportunity 
of  leisure,  and  he  that  hath  little  business  shall  become  wise."  In 
other  words,  those  that  do  not  have  any  job,  who  do  not  touch  life 
in  any  way,  who  have  plenty  of  leisure,  would  become  exceedingly 
wise.  Then  he  told  us  how  the  farmer  would  be  educated.  He  said : 
"He  will  set  his  heart  upon  turning  his  furrows  and  his  wakefulness 
is  to  give  his  heifers  their  fodder,"  In  a  similar  w^ay  he  continues  lo 
discuss  the  education  which  the  smithy  and  potter  should  receive. 
Evidently  industrial,  art  and  agriciultural  training  were  ignored. 

He  granted  that  without  the  work  of  these  men,  not  a  city  would 
be  inhabited,  that  men  would  not  sojourn  nor  walk  up  and  down 
therein,  and  then  in  the  next  breath  he  said :  "They  shall  not  be  sought 
for  in  public  counsel,  nor  sit  high  in  the  congregation;  they  shall  not 
sit  on  the  judge's  seat,  nor  understand  the  sentence  of  judgment;  they 
cannot  declare  justice  and  judgment,  and  they  shall  not  be  found 
V.  here  parables  are  spoken."  Assuredly  the  leisure  class  was  going  to 
do  all  the  thinking  and  the  rest  of  mankind — the  workers — were  to  do 
t]';e  work  and  follow  the  law. 


124  VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

We  still  have  educational  "stand-patters"  like  Sirach.  Only  tlie 
other  day,  a  college  president  in  this  State  said  that  we  needed  states- 
men more  than  we  needed  carpenters.  He  left  the  impression  that 
a  few  of  us  should  do  all  the  thinking  and  the  rest  should  do  all  the 
working,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact,  thinkers  should  be  workers,  and 
workers  should  be  thinkers,  and  both  should  be  gentlemen  in  leisure, 
out  of  leisure,  but  never  because  of  leisure.  The  modern  sons  of 
Sirach,  or  shall  I  say  the  daughters  of  Sirach,  have  notions  that  some 
children  of  well-to-do  parents  are  to  be  milk-fed  and  assume  leader- 
ship; that  others  who  crease  their  trousers  and  have  a  suave  smile — 
"nice  boys" — are  to  be  sterilized  and  made  immune  from  contact  with 
present  infection  in  industry  and  commerce,  and  are  to  be  sent  to  the 
colleges  to  study  for  the  professions;  that  boys  who  have  worn  out 
trousers  or  perhaps  no  trousers,  are  to  be  taken  into  the  mill  or  the 
elevator  or  on  the  grocery  wagon  and  sentenced  to  hard  labor  for  the 
rest  of  their  lives.  Still  others  would  divide  children  into  those  that 
are  hand-minded  and  those  that  are  book-minded  Any  up-to-date 
son  of  Sirach  ought  to  know  that  there  is  no  such  accurate  division 
of  school  children,  that  all  children  are  concrete  minded.  Nihil  in 
mente  quod  nnn  ante  in  sensu.  The  only  way  that  children  can  gain 
the  ability  to  take  hold  and  accomplish  results  in  the  future  is  by  having 
a  background  of  previous  accomplishments  and  results,  and  these 
results  and  accomplishments  are  not  to  be  limited  in  life  nor  in  school 
only  to  the  memorization  of  facts  from  a  text-book. 

And  then  there  are  teachers  who  think  that  schools  are  always 
better  than  going  to  w^ork.  They  would  hold  children  in  school,  re- 
gardless of  whether  they  will  learn  anything  or  not.  or  whether  they 
care  to  stay  in  school,  or  whether  there  is  anything  in  the  school  worth 
learning;  forgetting  that  oftentimes  actual  work  in  commerce  and 
industry  has  tremendous  possibilities  in  educational  development.  It 
is  a  very  superficial  basis  of  judging  the  child  when  a  teacher  says: 
"Yes,  he  does  well  in  manual  training;  he  should  learn  a  trade."  Or 
when  he  says  of  another  pupil— "He  learns  easily.  He  should  study  for 
a  profession." 

I  fear  that  all  this  discussion  and  all  these  papers  and  speakers 
have  confused  me  so  that  I  carried  the  confusion  to  my  chamber,  and 
last  night  I  dreamed.  I  dreamed  in  the  first  place  that  I  had  a  lot  of 
bulletms  given  me  to  read  on  the  various  vocations.  I  saw  one  on 
candy-dipping,  and  I  thought  how  nice  it  would  be  to  taste  of  the 
candy  while  I  was  making  it,  and  then  I  thought  I  would  probably  get 
tired  of  It ;  so  I  passed  on  to  a  bulletin  on  manicuring  and  wondered 
what  chance  there  would  be  of  a  manicure  girl  getting  married  to  a 
millionaire,  as  I  saw  in  a  New  York  paper  the  other  day.    But  finally 


VOCATIONAL  TRAINING  125 

when  I  read  the  bulletin  on  being  a  banker,  I  decided  I  wanted  to  be 
one  with  strong  leaning  toward  investment  in  Standard  Oil  stock.  And 
then  I  dreamed  that  I  went  to  a  moving  picture  show  where  scenes 
that  illustrated  the  various  occupations  were  given.  I  saw  a  picture 
of  a  Lawrence,  Mass.,  mill  boy  being  escorted  to  the  mill  with  police- 
men and  soldiers  in  front,  beside,  and  back  of  him,  so  I  decided  that 
I  did  not  want  to  get  into  that  kind  of  work.  Besides,  I  would  have 
to  work  with  my  hands  and  get  them  dirty.  And  at  last  1  was  shown 
on  the  screen  a  picture  of  John  D.  Rockefeller's  place  at  Tarrytown 
and  then  I  knew  I  wanted  to  be  a  millionaire.  Then  a  large  number  of 
books  were  brougiit  into  my  room — books  on  the  study  of  occupa- 
tions. I  delved  into  the  question  of  wages,  the  question  of  oppor- 
tunities for  advancement  and  study  of  industrial  diseases,  a  study  of 
seasonal  trades,  statistics  on  industrial  questions  and  half  a  dozen 
volumes  on  old-age  pensions  and  industrial  insurance;  and  finally, 
just  as  I  was  getting  ready  to  be  a  machinist,  I  picked  up  a  book  on 
Socialism  and  found  out  that  all  the  methods  of  manufacture  and  the 
division  of  operations  was  to  be  changed,  and  so  I  put  the  whole  thing 
away  and  retired  to  a  farm  and  waited  for  the  days  of  utopianism  to 
come. 

Then  again  I  was  little  Johnnie  Jones,  a  poor  boy,  dressed  in 
thread-bare  clothes,  a  truant  at  school,  and  my  grade  teacher  placed 
me  with  a  plumber  to  learn  a  trade  because  she  thought  I  was  capable 
of  learning  to  smoke  a  pipe,  light  a  fire,  melt  the  solder,  and  sit  around 
three  or  four  years  in  the  process  of  learning  a  trade. 

And  last  of  all  I  dreamed  I  was  placed  in  a  psychological  labora- 
tory. My  body  was  made  stiff  and  inflexible  by  some  sort  of  an  in- 
jection. I  was  then  placed  on  a  wedge,  given  the  binominal  theorem 
(2o'^/3 — 3&%)%  to  find  the  fifth  term.  If  my  head  went  down, 
as  a  result  of  working  out  the  problem,  I  was  to  be  a  mathematical 
teacher,  and  if  my  feet  went  down,  I  was  to  go  in  for  athletics.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  my  feet  went  down  and  I  woke  up. 

If  we  are  going  to  train  people  for  jobs  and  if  we  are  going  to 
advise  people  of  the  jobs  they  should  hold,  we  must  know  more  about 
the  jobs  and  more  about  vocational  training.  I  fear  at  present  few  of 
us  appreciate  the  importance  of  vocational  training.  At  a  teachers' 
institute  the  other  day  I  was  on  the  program  to  discuss  industrial 
schools.  On  the  same  program  were  the  subjects  of  "incorrigibles 
in  school,"  "defectives  in  school,"  "open  air  school  for  tubercular 
children,"  "medical  inspection,"  etc.  In  other  words,  vocational  train- 
ing was  considered  as  a  side  issue  and  was  to  be  associated  with  sucii 
problems  as  training  defectives.  Its  companions  were  to  be  the  sick, 
the  lame  and  the  blind.     Neither  vocational  training,  nor  vocational 


1-,^  VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

tjiiidancc  belong  on  any  such  program.  As  I  understand  it,  vocational 
education  involves  a  readjustment  of  the  educational  practice  to  fit 
in  witii  social  and  industrial  needs.  It  is  to  be  worked  out  as  care- 
fully as  at  present  is  the  preparation  of  children  for  college.  Further- 
more, we  must  not  forget  that  after  we  have  finished  the  problem  of 
making  people  skilled  with  the  hand,  there  is  still  the  problem  of  train- 
ing people  tfl  feci  in  order  that  they  may  have  the  power  to  think  as 
V  ell  as  the  power  of  sa\ving  a  board. 

.\t  present  the  argument  favoring  vocational  education  hinges 
largely  around  the  point  that  it  is  to  hold  children  in  school  longer. 
X'ocational  education,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  should  have  little  or  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  question  of  holding  children  in  school.  The  reten- 
tion of  children  in  school  is  a  matter  of  providing  better  education. 
Fitting  people  for  their  life's  work  is  the  problem  of  vocational  edu- 
caUon  and  thus  has  a  definite  purpose  and  does  not  need  to  mix  in  with 
the  leaving  school  problem.  In  the  actual  practice  in  vocational  edu- 
cation, it  is  said  we  should  copy  present  factory  methods,  but  these 
methods  have  changed  enormously  since  1872.  They  have  even 
changed  since  IcSqg,  and  they  are  constantly  changing.  We  must  be 
verv  careful  in  the  copying  of  present  methods  of  industry  because 
we  mav  be  really  unfitting  people  for  the  future  if  we  too  definitely 
fit  them  for  that  future  as  we  see  it  when  we  narrow  our  conception 
down  to  what  is  being  done  in  the  present. 

Then  again,  we  talk  a  good  deal  about  shop  English,  just  as 
though  there  could  be  such  a  thing  as  plumbers'  English,  carpenters' 
English,  and  lawyers'  English.  The  vocabularies  may  differ  in  the 
various  trades,  but  I  do  not  see  how  simple  conversation  between  a 
plumber  and  a  lawyer  requires  any  very  different  training  in  English. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  good  definition  of  Vocational  Guidance 
Y.ould  be  "the  adjustment  of  educational  practice  to  social  and  in- 
dustrial needs."  We  are  a  part  of  the  movement  which  is  endeavor- 
ing to  build  up  a  plan  for  the  increase  of  human  wealth  as  definite 
and  as  purposeful  as  any  industrial  enterprise  which  is  endeavoring 
to  accumulate  material  wealth.  We  must  remember  that  we  are  near 
lelations  to  other  reform  movements,  such  as  housing,  child-labor, 
industrial  insurance,  industrial  accidents,  etc. ;  that  we  are  all  a  part  of 
a  great  problem,  that  of  the  adjustment  of  educational  and  vocational 
practice  to  meet  the  changing  industrial  and  social  needs 

Furthermore,  w^e  must  not  confine  ourselves  entirely  to  the  ques- 
tion of  vocational  education  as  related  to  vocational  guidance.  We 
are  concerned  primarily  with  the  problem  of  better  education,  par- 
ticularly better  elementary  education  and  we  are  to  see  to  it  that  childreii 
leally  obtain  this  education,  that  thev  are  not  allowed  to  leave  school 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  127 

until  they  have  the  elements  of  a  good  education,  until  they  have  good 
health  and  until  they  have  some  knowledge  of  the  work  into  which 
they  want  to  go,  and  some  ability  to  succeed  at  it.  We  must  see  to  it 
that  the  educative  process  extends  from  birth  to  death.  It  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  provide  a  few  vocational  schools  for  children  between  fourteen 
and  sixteen,  or  trade  schools  for  children  between  sixteen  and  eighteen  ; 
we  must  not  forget  that  one  of  the  largest  problems  is  that  of  introduc- 
ing continuation  schools  where  people  may  through  this  "way  out" 
education,  continue  to  work  and  yet  continue  to  go  to  school.  Further- 
more, we  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  other  factors  which  enter 
into  education  than  schools ;  that  moving  picture  shows  are  educating 
children,  that  they  appeal  to  the  eye,  to  the  senses,  to  the  emotions,  and 
that  they  may  work  harm  or  promote  good. 

Then  there  is  the  problem  of  educating  people  for  leisure  as  well 
as  for  vocation.  Some  day  we  shall  probably  have  a  National  Society 
•  for  the  Promotion  of  Education  for  Leisure.  In  other  words,  there  is 
involved  in  our  plan  not  only  the  job  of  fitting  people  to  work,  but  also 
the  job  of  fitting  them  to  live,  and  furthermore,  there  is  the  job  of 
giving  people  some  knowledge  of  the  "job  .road"  and  give  them  some 
capacity  to  get  on  the  right  side  of  that  road ;  and  for  those  that 
cannot  get  on  the  right  side,  to  find  means  through  legislation  and 
through  arousing  public  conscience,  for  obtaining  a  square  deal  for 
those  people  while  on  the  road,  even  if  they  are  not  on  the  right  side 
of  it. 

Throughout  our  discussions  we  must  keep  our  good  nature. 
Every  good  movement  contributes  to  the  final  solution.  Dr.  Devine, 
with  his  interest  in  social  problems ;  Mr.  Lovejoy^  in  his  child  labor 
agitation;  Dr,.  Gulick,  in  his  agitation  of  problems  in  hygiene;  Mrs. 
Raymond  Robbins,  with  her  interest  in  the  Women's  Trade  Union 
League;  these  people  are  all  contributors.  We  all  must  live  together, 
v.'ork  together  and  smile  together  for  a  common  purpose — a  purpose 
which  is  to  develop  an  educational  and  vocational  practice  to  meet 
industrial  and  social  needs. 

We  should  recognize  every  good-intentioned  act,  whether  for 
vocational  education  or  vocational  guidance,  which  is  on  the  right 
road.  Every  one  is  making  his  contribution,  and  if  these  contributions 
are  well  intentioned  and  unselfish,  they  ought  to  be  supported.  It 
is  too  early  in  the  game  to  criticize  one  another  or  to  criticize  the 
phase  of  the  movement  which  another  represents. 

Vocational  guidance  is  primarily  needed  by  the  parents  just  so 
long  as  parents  will  exploit  their  own  children.  It  is  needed  by  teachers 
just  so  long  as  they  will  discriminate  between  rough  and  dirty  Johnnie 
O'Brien  and  sleek,  smooth  Willie  Smith.     It  is  needed  by  the  public 


J23  VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

just  so  long  as  some  industrial  and  social  conditions  remain  as  they 
Ate  and  it  may  be  needed  most  of  all  by  those  who  are  in  the  voca- 
tional guidance  movement  itself. 


EFFICIENCY   ENGINEERING  IN   EDUCATION 

May  E.  Rivkin 
Head  of  Social  Work,  Hebrew  Educational  Society,  Brooklyn 

The  fact  that  a  big  city  like  New  York  should  have  done  so 
little  along  the  lines  of  Educational  Guidance,  demonstrates  very 
clearly,  it  seems  to  m.e,  how  few  New  Yorkers  fully  appreciate  its 
tremendous  significance.  And  so  I  think  it  may  be  fitting  for  me, 
here,  to  point  out  in  a  few  words  how  essential  it  is  in  a  great  system 
<ji  education  such  as  our  own.  I  wonder  how  many  of  you  have 
ever  stopped  to  consider  how  complex  it  must  appear  to  the  boys 
and  girls  who  have  just  left  the  elementary  schools,  who  have  been 
thrown  upon  their  own  resources  for  the  first  time  and  who  are  jus: 
beginning  to  look  about  them. 

Before  the  introduction  of  trade  training  the  only  choice  was 
between  our  private  and  our  public  schools.  And  as  both  gave  ver-^' 
much  the  same  type  of  inadequate  preparation  for  life,  to  choose 
letween  them  was  not  very  difficult.  To-day,  however,  we  do  oflFer 
our  boys  and  girls  trade  training;  it  is  by  no  means  as  perfect  as 
we  hope  to  make  it.  There  isn't  enough  of  it,  it  isn't  well  distributed 
over  the  city,  etc.  But  the  fact  remains  that  we  offer  them  this  trade 
training  in  different  kinds  of  schools  and  that  it  is  of  the  very  utmost 
importance  that  the  decision  which  the  boy  or  girl  makes  be  the 
right  one. 

We  have  not  only  public  schools,  but  private  schools  and  schools 
under  philanthropic  auspices  as  well.  And  the  situation  is  still  fur- 
ther complicated  by  the  fact  that  each  type  of  school  has  its  own 
peculiar  problems  to  face,  its  own  clientele,  its  own  interests  and  its 
own  curriculum,  of  which  the  boy  or  girl  about  to  make  a  choice 
ran  know  very  little.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  all  of  the  school? 
can  be  further  classified  into  day  schools  and  night  scliools  :  into  schools 
giving  complete  trade  training  to  beginners  and  continuation  schools ; 
into  those  giving  so-called  "incomplete"  courses  which,  though  not 
definitely  commercial  in  character  can,  nevertheless,  be  of  use  co 
bright  boys  and  girls  in  securing  employment;  into  apprenticeship 
schools  and  business  schools;  into  art  and  professional  schools  and 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  129 

it  is  easy  to  see  that  our  boys  and  girls  are  left  in  a  perfect  maze 
through  which  they  can  see  no  light  and  through  which,  due  to  our 
lack  of  centralization,  there  is  no  one  competent  enough  to  guide 
them. 

For  a  concrete  example,  take  the  case  of  the  boy  who  wishes  to 
study  plumbing.    He  can  get  free  day  courses  at  the  Baron  de  Hirscn 
Trade  School  or  the  Vocational  School  for  Boys;  the  one  giving  a 
live  and  a  half  month  course,  and  the  other  a  course  about  two  years 
in  length.     Or  he  can  get  a  four  months'  day  course  for  S45  at  the 
New  York  Trade  School.     On  the  other  hand  he  has  the  choice  of 
going  to  work  during  the  day  and  studying  at  night.     Such  an  ar- 
rangement by  the  way  is  very  alluring  in  the  beginning,  but  is  such 
a  tax  on  the  strength  of  the  boys  and  girls  that  most  of  them  soon 
give  up  all  idea  of  study.     In  the  evening  he  can  get  a  two  or  threa 
years'  course  free  at  the  Public  Evening  Trade  School;  he  can  get  a 
three  years'  evening  course  for  $32  at  the  New  York  Trade  School; 
or  a  two  years'  course  for  $50  at  the  23rd  St.  Branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
I  am  purposely  omitting  all  reference  to  the  question  of  purely 
vocational   guidance    fundamental    though   that   may   be.      I    am    not 
considering  the  whys  or  wherefores  of  the  boy's  decision  to  go  into 
plumbing.     In   fact  it  is  questionable  whether  we  know^  enough  as 
}'et  about  the  occupations  to  be  able  to  give  him  really  intelligent  voca- 
tional advice  of  this  sort.     What  I  wish  to  bring  out,  however,  is 
that  we  can  give  educational  guidance.    When  once  the  boy  has  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  wants  to  go  into  plumbing,  the  path  should  be 
made  vlear  for  him.     We  should  be  able  to  tell  him  where  to  go  for 
courses  in  that  trade.     And  when  I  say  that  we  ought  to  tell  him 
where  to  go,  I  don't  mean  that  we  must  leave  the  acquiring  and  im- 
parting of  this  information  to  our  already  over-burdened  principals 
and  school  teachers.     It  is  just  such  an  arrangement  which  obtains 
tn-day  and  which  is  largely  responsible  for  the  amount  of  unnecessary 
friction  and  waste  which  exists  even  in  our  relatively  well-organized 
Public  School  System.    And  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Public 
School  System  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  whole  educational  system ; 
tnat  the  Board  of  Education  publishes  a  certain  amount  of  general 
information  with  regard  to  its  schools,  while  the  other  schools,  act- 
ing as  so  many  independent  units,  publish  individual  catalogues  with 
ijo  attempt  at  co-operation. 

Let  me  illustrate  my  meaning  by  citing  a  few  striking  cases  which 
came  to  my  notice  in  the  course  of  my  investigation.  There  are  but 
three  public  evening  trade  schools  in  Manhattan  which  we  can  call  A,  B. 
and  C  for  convenience.  One  evening  while  I  was  in  the  office  of 
Trade  School  A,  a  young  man  of  about   seventeen  came  to   ni(iuir2 


130  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

about  a  certain  trade  course.  He  was  very  poorly  dressed  and  looked 
tired  after  a  hard  day's  work.  The  person  in  charge  pointed  out  that 
the  class  in  his  school  was  filled  and  referred  him  to  Trade  School  B. 
He  informed  the  applicant,  however,  that  he  did  not  know  whether 
that  course  was  given  there  or  not.  But  the  young  man  took  the 
address  and  decided  to  go  there  and  see.  About  ten  minutes  later 
another  young  man  came  to  inquire  about  the  same  course.  He  had 
already  found  the  class  in  School  C  filled,  so  he  too  was  referred 
to  School  B.  When  I  looked  up  the  matter  at  home,  later,  I  founhd 
that  School  B  didn't  give  that  particular  course  at  all.  The  first 
young  man  was  no  doubt  referred  from  School  B  to  School  C  only 
to  find  the  class  there  filled;  and  the  second  having  gone  the  rounds 
was  to  find  that  he  couldn't  register.  They  both  spent  carfare  which 
they  could  ill  afford,  and  were  even  then  left  in  absolute  ignorance 
of  the  possibilities  of  obtaining  the  training  they  desired  in  some  of 
the  philanthropic  trade  schools. 

Let  me  add  just  one  other  illustration.  A  friend  of  mine  was  in 
the  principal's  office  of  one  of  the  elementary  night  schools  in  Brooklyn, 
v/hen  a  young  man  came  in  to  register  for  a  trade  course.  He  was 
told  that  that  was  not  a  trade  school ;  that  the  person  in  charge  didn't 
know  where  the  Brooklyn  Trade  School  was,  or  what  courses  were 
given  there,  and  the  boy  was  dismissed.  My  friend,  who  was  particu- 
larly interested,  referred  the  boy  to  me  for  information. 

These  are  merely  a  few  of  the  many  examples  w^hich  doubtless 
any  of  you  can  duplicate  from  your  own  experience  and  which  point 
to  the  lack  of  organization  which  exists.  Our  educational  system  m 
the  broad  sense  in  which  I  have  been  using  it,  includes  very  nearly 
a  million  boys  and  girls  and  young  men  and  young  women.  Look 
ir.to  any  industry  whatever,  that  is  handling  a  million  clothespins  a 
year  and  you  will  find  the  most  perfect  administration  existing.  There 
is  the  express  duty  of  an  expert  to  eliminate  all  elements  of  friction, 
it  is  not  left  to  everybody  and  anybody.  Surely  Ave.  too,  should  have 
somebody  in  our  educational  system  whose  business  it  is  to  keep 
thoroughly  informed  on  these  matters  and  who  can  give  expert  advice 
and  accurate  information. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  case  we  were  discussing  of  Johnny  Jones 
who  wished  to  study  plumbing.  We  saw  how  many  possibilities  there 
were  for  him  to  choose  from  and  how  difficult  it  was  for  him  to 
decide.  But  we  have  not  as  yet  stopped  to  consider  how  very  difficult 
it  was  for  him  to  learn  of  these  possibilities  to  begin  with.  In  fact. 
I  doubt  very  much  whether  any  Johnny  Jones  ever  does,  learn  about 
them  all  before  making  up  his  mind.  Well,  how  does  he  proceed. 
If  his  principal  is  very  conscientious  he  may  have  told  him  about  the 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  131 

\'ocational  School  for  Boys, — though  it  is  surprising  how  many  boys 
there  are  who  never  hear  of  it.  Then  again  there  is  the  merest  possi- 
biHty  that  he  may  hear  about  the  Baron  de  Hirsch  or  the  New  York 
Trade  School  from  some  friends  of  his,  or  he  may  live  in  the  neighbor- 
h.ood  of  one  of  these.  In  all  probability,  however,  Johnny  Jones  wiU 
not  hear  of  any  of  these  opportunities  for  studj'ing  plumbing  by  day 
and  will  consequently  decide  to  get  a  job  and  study  in  the  evening.  Let 
rs  consider  for  a  moment  the  probable  extent  of  his  information  with 
regard  to  the  night  schools.  In  all  likelihood  he  will  first  hear  about 
the  Public  Evening  Trade  Schools  because  they  are  advertised  on  bill 
boards  and  in  store  windows.  And  he  will  then  go  from  one  to  the 
other  until  he  finds  the  school  giving  the  course  he  needs  and  will 
enroll  there  without  further  investigation  of  any  of  the  other  oppor- 
tunities for  training. 

Let  us  suppose,  however,  that  for  some  reason  or  other  he  didn't 
enroll  in  any  of  the  Public  Evening  Schools.  What  then?  He  may  either 
get  a  job  in  disgust  and  drift,  or  if  he  is  lucky  enough  to  secure  a 
list  of  all  of  the  other  trade  schools,  he  may  write  to  them  for  cata- 
logues (such  lists  are  extremely  inaccessible  by  the  way).  I  am  sure 
}'ou  all  know  how  lacking  in  uniformity  these  catalogues  are,  and 
how  everything  you  don't  w  ant  to  know  about  is  always  staring  you 
in  the  face,  while  all  the  things  you  are  most  interested  in  are  tucked 
away  off  in  a  corner  so  that  it  is  a  perfect  miracle  that  you  ever  spy 
them  at  all.  Em  sure  we  can  all  sympathize  most  heartily  with  a 
Johnny  Jones  in  such  an  extremity.  And  if  he  ever  gets  an  intelligent 
grasp  of  the  situation  he  is  very  remarkable  indeed. 

A\'ell,  that's  how  the  matter  stands  in  New  York.  It  is  true 
that  some  attempts  have  been  made  here  to  issue  guides.  In  Boston 
such  guides  were  issued  in  chart  form.  Here  the  pamphlet  form  seems 
to  have  been  preferred.  Several  years  ago  Aliss  Mary  Elexner 
prepared  a  pamphlet  for  the  Henry  Street  Settlement,  as  Dr.  Bern- 
HEiMER  has  already  told  you,  giving  information  as  to  vocational 
opportunities  in  New  York.  This  was  arranged  by  schools  and  there 
was  no  attempt  at  tabulation.  AIr.  \\'eavi:r,  on  the  other  hand,  issued 
"  single  sheet  indicating  where  certain  trade  courses  were  being  given. 
Eor  some  reason  or  other  neither  of  these  has  been  circulated  to  any 
great  extent  and  as  a  result  there  is  almost  no  school  boy  or  school 
girl  who  knows  of  their  existence.  The  pamphlet  which  I  have  just 
])repared  for  the  Hebrew  Educational  Society  and  which  was  un- 
fortunately not  printed  on  time  for  this  meeting,  though  we  hoped 
ii  would  be,  is  an  attempt  to  tabulate  information  with  regard  to 
trade  schools  and  their  courses  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  anyone 
looking  up  the  particular  trade  in  the  index  and  turning  to  the  right 


132  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

page,  to  see  at  a  glance  which  schools  give  courses  in  that  trade  and 
under  exactly  what  conditions.  The  information  is  classified  by  trades 
and  includes  a  statement  of  the  prerequisites  for  admission,  length  of 
course,  fee,  etc.,  in  the  case  of  each  school.  The  publication  of  such 
information,  however,  is  only  a  small  part  of  what  should  be  a  greater 
movement  for  efificiency  engineering  in  our  educational  system.  When 
all  of  the  business  world  is  focusing  its  attention  upon  the  elimination 
of  friction  and  waste.  When  efficiency  engineering  in  the  industrial 
field  has  made  it  perfectly  apparent  that  centralization  of  administra- 
tive control  is  at  the  very  basis  of  economy,  surely  we  should  apply 
the  same  system  of  organization  to  the  perfection  of  our  complex 
educational  machinery  where  waste  is  not  mere  waste  of  money,  but 
waste  of  the  child's  time,  loss  of  ambition,  perhaps,  blind  alley 
employment  and  the  moral  degradation  of  our  young  boys 
and  girls  which  so  often  results  from  continuous  aimless 
shifting.  It  is  not  enough  for  us  to  merely  furnish  them  with 
the  guides  I  have  mentioned,  though  these  guides  are  of  fundamental 
importance.  Every  library  should,  it  seems  to  me,  have  a  complete 
set  of  catalogues  to  which  those  who  are  interested  may  turn  for 
specific  supplementary  information  when  necessary.  And  over  and 
above  all  of  that  we  should  have  a  central  body  of  experts  with  whom 
the  boys  and  girls  might  discuss  the  term  held  out  to  them  by  the 
different  schools  in  the  light  of  their  own  needs,  and  really  make  their 
choice  an  intelligent  one. 

Were  such  a  committee  organized  as  part  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, the  field  of  its  activities  could  be  far  wnder  than  that  which  T 
have  indicated  above ;  for  example,  take  the  matter  of  proper  dis- 
tribution of  trade  schools  over  the  city.  The  public  school  houses  are 
scattered  all  over  the  city  and  while  at  present  there  are  only  three 
public  evening  trade  schools  in  Manhattan,  one  in  Brooklyn  and  one 
in  Queens,  there  will  be  many  more  before  long.  There  is  no  reason 
why  this  Central  Committee  should  not  study  up  the  question  of 
proper  distribution  and  assist  the  Board  of  Education  in  determining 
where  to  open  a  trade  school  that  will  meet  the  demand  by  supple- 
menting the  work  of  private  and  philanthropic  schools  in  a  particular 
neighborhood  and  not  merely  duplicating  their  activities. 

The  question  of  keeping  courses  up  to  a  given  standard  is  far  more 
difficult  in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  adequate  government 
supervision  of  the  private  schools.  However,  the  Central  Committee 
could  do  a  great  deal  indirectly  toward  bringing  schools  np  to  the 
desired  level  by  recommending  those  of  which  it  approves  and  advis- 
ing people  against  all  others.    Nor  are  the  courses  given  by  the  public 


VOCATIONAL   TRAINING  133 

schools  themselves  immune  from  criticism.  It  might  be  well  for 
iuch  a  committee  to  find  what  standards  should  be  set. 

To  see  to  it  that  courses  given  by  the  different  trade  schools 
meet  the  demands  of  the  market  and  change  with  it,  is  a  duty  which, 
though  very  important,  is  nevertheless  a  question  of  future  concern. 
For,  in  order  to  do  anything  of  that  sort,  the  committee  would  havi 
to  be  kept  informed  of  all  fluctuations  in  the  market  by  those  who 
are  investigating  occupational  conditions.  And  no  group  of  investi- 
gators is  fully  prepared  as  yet  to  furnish  the  necessary  information. 
When,  it  is  available,  however,  even  the  private  schools  will,  on  the 
whole,  probably  fall  into  line.  Those  which  are  not  out  for  gain 
will  be  very  glad  to  do  so,  and  others  may  be  induced  to  by  the  pres- 
sure Avhich  such  a  committee  can  exert  in  withholding  its  recom- 
mendations from  those  schools. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  problems  which  could  be  put  into 
the  hands  of  such  a  central  committee  of  experts  as  I  would  propose. 
It  seems  to  me  that  such  centralization  of  control  would,  by  all  means, 
insure  scientific,  efficient  and  economical  business  administration. 
Only  then,  I  believe,  will  it  be  possible  for  us  to  give  our  boys  and 
girls  the  best  possible  opportunities  for  \^ocational  Training. 


SUMMARY 


Arthur    W.    Dunn 
Secretary,  Public  Education  Association,  New  York 

I  have  interpreted  my  function  to-night  as  being  not  that  of 
lecapitulating  what  has  been  said,  but  that  of  pointing  out  some  of 
the  essential  ideas  that  have  been  suggested  by  the  remarks  this 
evening.  I  feel  myself  somev/hat  in  the  position  of  one  having  to 
say  something,  rather  than  of  having  something  to  say.  But  after 
all,  with  due  apologies  to  the  speakers  of  to-night,  I  hardly  feel  in 
u  class  by  myself  in  this  respect,  for  how  many  of  us  really  have 
something  positive  and  definite  to  say  on  this  great  subject  of  voca- 
tional training  and  guidance?  As  I  listened  to-night,  I  have  asked 
myself,  "What  has  been  said  to  contribute  to  the  solution  of  these 
problems?" 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  have  succeeded  only  in  raising  or  recog- 
nizing certain  questions,  not  in  answering  them.  Defining  the  ques- 
tion, however,  is  the  first  important  step  in  answering  it.  "Whom 
shall  we  fit,  for  what  shall  we  fit,  how  shall  we  fit?"    These  questions 


134  VOCATIONAL   TRAINING 

have  not  yet  been  answered  with  finality.  One  of  the  encouraging  signs 
is  to  have  the  bigness  of  the  question  recognized  by  those  in  authority 
in  this  field  as  ]\Ir.  Dean  has  recognized  it.  Progress  in  solving  the 
problems  of  vocational  education  and  vocational  guidance  wall  gain 
in  rapidity  as  we  abandon  our  cock-sureness  in  regard  to  this  or  that 
scheme  and  settle  down  to  the  determination  to  understand  the 
problem. 

Miss  Rivkix  has  not  half  stated  the  complexity  of  the  problem 
when  she  pictures  the  many  types  of  schools.  The  complexity  is  just 
as  great  or  even  greater  on  the  side  of  industry.  She  is  right  in  her 
plea  for  efficiency  engineering  in  this  field  of  vocational  training.  She 
is  right  in  recognizing  the  fact  that  vocational  guidance  means  guid- 
ance for  training.  She  did  not,  however,  it  seems  to  me,  lay  suffi- 
cient emphasis  on  the  fact  that  the  first  ones  to  need  guidance  are 
not  the  boys  and  girls,  but  those  who  teach,  those  who  organize  courses 
of  study,  those  who  administer  the  schools.  It  is  encouraging  to 
know  that  school  authorities  are  beginning  to  seek  the  services  of 
such  expert  engineers  at  the  present  time. 

Mrs.  GLENNr's  description  of  the  work  of  the  Women's  League 
of  Boston  was  not  only  interesting,  but  suggestive  of  what  may 
be  done  in  all  cities.  But  I  am  sure  that  !Mrs.  Glenny  herself  does 
not  mean  to  suggest  that  this  work  of  classifying  the  vocational  schools 
in  cities  solves  the  problem.  If  the  Boston  Committee  of  this  League 
could  find  the  means  of  treating  each  one  of  the  schools  on  its  list 
as  an  experiment,  and  of  setting  its  effixiency  experts  to  work  analyz- 
mg  the  methods  and  results  of  each  such  experiment,  taking  into 
consideration  the  industrial  and  social  conditions  involved,  and  the 
types  of  children  attending  the  schools,  and  would  then  compare  these 
results,  a  quantity  of  valuable  data  might  be  secured  to  contribute  to 
the  solution  of  the  problem.  But  when  Boston  solves  her  problem, 
it  by  no  means  follows  that  she  has  solved  the  problem  for  New 
York  or  San  Francisco.  Certain  fundamental  principles  may  be  uni- 
"ersal,  but  the  details  of  the  methods  of  vocational  training  will  have 
to  be  adapted  to  each  community  or  each  neighborhood. 

\^ocational  training  or  vocational  preparation  should  begin  when 
the  child  enters  the  elementary  school,  and  must  continue  through- 
out his  course.  In  this  time  of  agitation  on  vocational  training,  there 
ir  a  tendency  to  forget  that  the  welfare  of  the  community  as  of  the 
individual  depends  as  much  upon  Avealth  consumption  as  upon  wealth 
production.  It  is  as  important  how  a  dollar  is  spent  as  how  a  dollar 
IS  earned. 

The  panic  created  by  the  discovery  that  a  large  percentage  of 
children  in  the  public  schools  are  not  being  held  until  the  end  of  the 


VOCATIONAL    FRAINING  lOo 

elementary  course,  is  in  danger  of  leading  to  too  hasty  attempts  to 
keep  children  in  school  for  a  much  longer  period  by  providing  more 
practical  courses  of  study  from  the  point  of  view  of  training  pro- 
ducers without  due  regard  to  the  education  of  the  consumer  or  all- 
round  citizen.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  producer 
i;nd  consumer  are  one  and  the  same  individual.  The  purpose  of  the 
public  school  is  to  produce  in  the  largest  possible  number  of  children 
the  highest  possible  degree  of  efficiency,  not  merely  as  producers,  but 
•is  all-round  citizens. 

It  need  not  be  expected  that  the  problem  will  be  solved  merely 
by  adding  on  to  the  present  course  of  study  technical,  commercial 
and  industrial  courses  with  appropriate  hand  work.  Technical  knowl- 
edge and  technical  skill  must  be  backed  by  a  proper  conception  of  life, 
an4  proper  mental  and  social  attitude  and  understanding. 

Is  it  not  possible  to  organize  the  content  and  method  of  seventh 
and  eight  grade  education  so  that  not  only  will  the  vocational  interests 
be  amply  provided  for,  but  also  the  liberal  education  of  the  consumer 
be  enriched,  his  civic  training  made  more  vital  and  effective,  and 
the  interest  of  the  child  and  his  parent  be  so  stimulated  that  the 
prolongation  of  the  educational  period  will  seem  the  desirable  thing? 


SESSION    OF    SATURDAY    MORNING,    OCTOBER  26 
At  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York 

CONFERENCE      ON     METHODS      OF     VOCATIONAL 

DIRECTION 

Chairman,  Benjamin  C.  Gruenberg 
Secretary,   Central   Committee  oh   Vocational   Guidance,    New   York 

The  Chairman  :  We  have  heard  discussed  during  the  half  dozen 
conferences  so  far  many  phases  of  the  subject  of  vocational  guidance. 
We  have  heard  of  the  importance  of  placement  work,  of  the  impor- 
tance of  following  up,  of  the  importance  of  studying  the  industries,  of 
the  importance  of  psychological  analysis.  We  have  been  duly  im- 
pressed, I  hope,  how  important  vocational  guidance  is  for  the  child  who 
must  perforce  have  food  and  clothing  and  shelter,  and  who  is  thrown 
upon  his  own  recources — he  ''must  go  to  work"  we  call  it;  how  impor- 
tant vocational  guidance  is  for  selecting  the  kind  of  school  a  child 
should  enter  after  the  elementary  period  is  past ;  how  important  it  is  to 
warn  children  against  entering  upon  undesirable  trades,  those  that  are 
undesirable  because  of  sanitary  or  moral  conditions,  those  that  are  un- 
desirable because  they  lead  to  nothingness  and  a  low  wage;  how  im- 
portant it  is  in  certain  cases  to  have  funds  available  for  the  especially 
deserving  child.  But  not  one  of  the  speakers  has  had  the  hardihood  to 
claim  that  vocational  guidance  is  the  most  important  thing  in  the 
world.  Yet  that  proposition  should  be  so  obvious  as  not  to  need  em- 
phasis. Is  it  not  obvious  to  all  those,  at  least,  who  have  attended  these 
meetings  ? 

If  it  is  not  obvious  to  all  that  vocational  guidance  is  the  most  im- 
portant thing  in  the  world,  the  explanation  is  not  hard  to  find.  We 
have  been  too  analytical,  perhaps ;  we  have  separated  our  ideas  of  life 
into  neat  pigeon-holes  and  have  lost  the  connection.  We  have 
been  saying  that  education  is  for  life,  but  education  is  life,  and 
you  cannot  separate  it  from  life.  We  have  the  difficulties  that 
are  complained  of  so  much  from  ever}-  side  to-day,  the  business  side, 
industrial  side,  the  philosophical  side,  the  moral  side,  the  civic.  The 
importance  of  vocational  guidance  lies  in  the  fact  that  finding  the  way 
of  life  is  the  one  thing  that  is  significant.  This  is  not  obvious  becaus2 
v.e  have  separated  our  work  from  life. 

We  say  that  people  must  work  for  a  living,  as  if  work  was  one 
thing  and  living  quite  another.    But  working  is  living,  and  living  means 

136 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  ll'..' 

nothing  unless  there  is  work  in  it.  Now,  I  am  not  speaking  as  an  econ- 
cmist.  I  am  not  trying  to  pretend  that  the  reason  why  work  is  so  impor- 
tant is  because  otherwise  we  would  not  have  enough  of  the  good  thing', 
of  life.  I  don't  mean  that  at  all.  That  is  true  enough.  But  work  is  life 
for  the  simple  reason  that  as  a  man's  activities  increase,  he  ascends  in 
life.  Our  life  is  made  up  of  these  activities,  and  the  satisfactions  of  life 
come  through  the  satisfaction  of  instincts,  which  include  the  instincts 
of  workmanship.  We  have  separated  work  from  life  for  various  goovl 
historical  reasons,  and  so  we  do  not  see  that  finding  the  way  in  life  is 
the  important  thing  for  young  people. 

There  is  a  story  about  a  young  man  who  went  to  a  pilgrim  for 
counsel,  and  the  pilgrim  asked  him  what  troubled  him,  and  the  thing 
that  troubled  the  young  man  was  that  he  didn't  know  what  to  do. 
He  thought  of  this  and  he  thought  of  that,  but  came  to  no  solution. 
And  the  pilgrim  said,  "Anyone  can  do  what  is  easy;  what  can  yon 
do?"  And  the  young  man  thought,  and  he  said,  in  the  slang  of  the 
day,  "I'll  be  blessed  if  I  know!"  And  the  wise  man  said,  "May  this 
blessing  come  to  you."  And  that  is  vocational  guidance,  the  blessing 
cf  knowing  what  you  can  do,  and  it  is  the  blessing  of  life  to  know 
what  can  be  done,  what  is  worth  doing.  And  so  it  is  in  this  connection 
that  vocational  guidance  is  the  important  thing — to  find  for  young 
people  the  way  of  life,  in  educating  for  life ;  not  working  for  living,  but 
living  through  w^orking,  through  doing,  through  taking  life  as  a  whole. 

Now,  we  have  seen  these  various  aspects  of  the  problem  pre- 
Fented,  and  the  question  is  not  answered,  "What  shall  we  do  with  this 
particular  John  and  this  particular  Mary?"  We  have  two  or  three 
people  who  have  tried  to  reach  the  particular  individual,  not  simply  to 
find  out  what  kind  of  occupations  there  are  (and  how  unfit  they  are 
for  human  beings),  not  what  particular  trades  stand  out  here  and 
there ;  but  people  who  wish  finally  to  bring  together  these  fragments, 
these  scattered  threads,  and  lead  them  into  some  kind  of  unity. 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE    THROUGH    SCHOOL    WORK 

Jesse  B.  Davis 
Principal,   Central   High    School,   Grand  Rapids,   Michigan 

I  wish  to  thank  Mr.  Gruenberg  first  of  all  for  clearing  up 
some  of  the  atmosphere  in  regard  to  just  what  we  mean 
by  vocational  guidance.  I  find  as  I  go  about  the  country,  explain- 
ing what  we  have  been  doing  in  the  city  of  Grand  Rapids,  that 
it    is    very    difficult     to     make     clear     just     what     vocational    guid- 


138  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

?nce  is.  Newspaper  men  and  editors  of  educational  magazines 
u-ho  print  the  articles,  will  put  at  the  head  of  the  page,  "Voca- 
tional Training"  or  "Vocational  Education,"  and  I  will  not  have  said 
one  word  about  vocational  training,  or  vocational  education  during  my 
remarks.  There  was  a  time  when  only  the  minister  had  a  "calling" 
to  his  life  work,  and  now  it  is  only  the  industrial  worker  who  has  a 
"calling."  So  I  protest  against  the  usurpation  of  that  word  "voca- 
tional" to  apply  to  industrial  education  alone.  All  education  is  voca- 
tional, or  should  be.  All  education  is  preparation  for  some  life  work. 
So  with  this  definition  perhaps,  you  will  be  aided  in  getting  my  point 
of  view  regarding  the  use  of  the  term  "Vocational  Guidance."  I  can- 
not understand  why  those  who  are  interested  in  industrial  education 
should  be  more  interested  in  vocational  guidance  than  the  teacher  of 
Latin,  or  of  history,  or  of  mathematics,  or  of  any  of  the  old  academic 
subjects,  and  as  Mr.  Gruenberg  has  said,  vocational  guidance  should 
be  the  one  great  aim  of  our  educational  system.  T  am  glad  that  in  a 
way,  this  subject  has  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  school  authorities 
by  those  who  have  come  in  contact  with  the  conditions  outside  of  the 
school.  Men  and  women  who  have  been  working  among  the  boys  and 
girls  who  have  had  to  leave  school  are  calling  our  attention  to  this 
great  need  of  vocational  guidance  within  the  school.  However,  my 
attention  was  called  to  the  need  for  vocational  guidance  by  problems 
within  the  school.  We  found  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  students 
coming  to  high  school,  going  through  high  school,  and  even  entering 
college,  were  drifting.  They  had  no  definite  aim  in  their  work.  They 
came  because  they  were  sent;  they  went  through  because  it  was  the 
proper  thing  to  do ;  they  went  to  a  certain  college  because  father  went 
there ;  they  took  a  certain  course — as  I  did — because  my  father  believed 
that  the  boy  who  didn't  study  Greek  was  feeble-minded.  We  also 
found  that  a  large  proportion  of  our  pupils  were  dropping  out.  No': 
all  were  obliged  to  leave;  a  great  proportion  of  them  could  have  con- 
tinued. Their  parents  were  perfectly  willing;  in  fact,  most  of  them 
were  very  much  wrought  up  because  the  boy  wouldn't  go  to  school, 
or  because  the  boy  got  tired  of  going  to  school  and  wanted  to  stay 
out.  The  school  lacked  the  power  to  hold  them,  either  because  it 
did  not  oflfer  what  they  needed  or  because  the  pupils  failed  to  have 
any  vocational  ambition.  We  found  boys  studying  Latin  that  ought 
to  have  been  in  the  shop ;  boys  taking  bookkeeping  that  ought  to  have 
been  studying  Latin,  and  so  on,  proving  that  there  were  misfits  through- 
out the  school. 

Then,  in  answering  the  demand  for  the  practical  in  education, 
and  in  an  attempt  to  standardize  the  practical  courses  that  were  com- 
ing in.  we  endeavored  to  adapt  that  word  coined  by  President  Elliott, 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  139 

"motivate,"  to  our  courses  of  study;  that  is,  to  try  to  give  some 
Twentieth  Century  aim  instead  of  medieval  aim  to  the  work  that  we 
were  doing. 

We  were  also  working  with  the  problem  of  moral  education,  or 
moral  guidance,  as  I  prefer  to  call  it. 

We  began  with  the  department  of  English,  because  through  that 
department  we  could  reach  all  of  the  pupils  in  the  school.  This  was 
done  by  introducing  themes  in  the  work  in  both  oral  and  written 
composition.  I  well  remember  my  school  days  and  how  I  hated  lo 
write  essays,  particularly  the  essay  upon  some  literary  theme,  about 
which  I  could  not  scare  up  an  original  idea,  and  how  I  w^ould  go  home 
and  hunt  over  father's  books  and  encyclopedias  to  see  if  I  couldn't  find 
that  essay  somewhere.  It  was  evident  that  boys  still  felt  that  way, 
and  possibly  some  of  the  girls.  And  so  we  began  to  outline  a  course 
of  vocational  themes  for  both  oral  and  written  composition  for  each 
semester's  work. 

The  topic  for  the  first  half  of  the  eighth  grade  is  entitled  "Am- 
bition." It  is  the  endeavor  upon  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  develop 
within  the  pupil  some  desire  to  do  something  and  to  be  somebody  in 
the  world.  In  the  latter  half  of  this  first  year's  work  in  the  eighth 
grade,  they  write  their  themes  on  the  value  of  an  education.  I  don't 
need  to  elaborate  on  these  topics,  but  will  say  that  at  the  exhibit  in 
the  Public  Library  we  have  shown  the  suggested  themes  in  each  of 
these  courses,  with  a  selected  bibliography,  so  that  I  will  not  take  the 
time  to  describe  them  in  detail  this  morning. 

In  the  ninth  grade,  the  first  semester's  work  is  '"Self-Analysis." 
We  started  out  with  the  idea  of  helping  the  pupils  to  know  themselves, 
but  some  of  them  were  beginning  to  become  morbid  and  to  worry 
about  themselves,  so  we  changed  the  purpose  to  that  of  revealing  the 
})upil  to  the  teacher  and  the  vocational  counsellor.  In  the  second 
semester  we  study  vocational  biography  (the  lives  of  successful  men 
and  women  of  the  past  and  the  present),  to  give  the  pupils  an  oppor- 
tunity to  discover  the  elements  of  character  that  make  for  real  suc- 
cess in  life,  and  to  compare  the  traits  or  characteristics  of  these  suc- 
cessful men  and  women  with  their  own. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  tenth  grade  the  idea  is  to  open  the  eyes 
cf  the  students  to  the  broad  field  of  opportunity  in  the  world.  The 
keynote  is  "The  Call  to  Service."  We  try  to  give  them  as  wide  a 
view  of  the  world's  work  as  we  possibly  can  through  a  study  of 
vocations.  A  list  of  vocations  is  made  by  the  pupils  themselves.  Thev 
can  use  the  classified  advertising  in  the  telephone  directory,  or  the 
city  directory.  Some  of  them  have  gotten  hold  of  an  old  Dunn's 
report,  and  they  made  a  card  index  of  vocations.  One  class  went  :>o 
far  as  to  list  1,700  vocations  alphabetically.     I  do  not  think  that  tiiat 


140  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  ; 

was  necessary,  and  yet  they  are  developing  out  of  it  a  card  index  sys- 
tem, putting  on  the  card  not  only  the  vocations,  but  some  of  the  qual- 
ities demanded  by  that  vocation,  the  training  necessary  to  reach  that 
vocation,  and  such  data  as  they  can  find  out  in  regard  to  the  wages 
and  the  opportunities  for  getting  into  that  particular  field. 

Then,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  tenth  grade,  the  theme  is  "Choosing 
a  Career."  There  were  several  reasons  why  this  happens  to  come 
just  where  it  does.  I  like  to  put  the  final  decision  of  a  career  off  just 
as  long  as  possible,  and  yet  with  the  present  arrangement  of  college 
entrance  requirements,  if  they  are  to  go  to  a  certain  college  or  tech- 
nical school,  or  even  into  business  or  industry,  here  is  the  last  moment 
when  they  must  make  a  decision,  because  the  course  of  study  is  such 
that  they  must  line  up4heir  work  for  the  following  two  years  if  they 
are  to  save  an  extra  year's  time  in  meeting  these  requirements.  Here 
again  we  have  self-analysis  for  the  purpose  of  discovering,  so  far  as 
it  may  be  possible,  the  characteristics,  ability,  ta.ste,  tendencies,  etc., 
so  that  they  can  apply  them  to  their  vision  of  the  call  of  the  world 
and  so  find  that  place  in  the  w^orld  in  which  they,  with  the  ability  that 
they  have,  can  best  serve  mankind. 

The  first  half  of  the  eleventh  year  is  "Preparation  for  Life's 
Work,"  preparation  for  life  in  trainmg  and  in  character.  They  have 
found  out  that  the  employer  not  only  wants  the  employees  to  know 
how  to  do  certain  things,  but  even  more  than  that,  the  right  kind  of  a 
bo)^,  the  right  kind  of  a  girl.  As  one  man  said  to  me  not  long  ago. 
*T  don't  care  what  this  boy  knows.  We  will  soon  teach  him  what  we 
want  him  to  know  when  we  get  him  here,  provided  you  send  the  right 
kind  of  a  fellow."  He  wanted  a  foundation  to  build  upon,  a  good 
character  that  he  could  depend  upon,  and  the  employer  would  teach 
the  detail  of  what  he  wanted  him  to  know  when  he  got  him.  So 
we  try  to  point  out  in  this  last  half  of  the  eleventh  grade  what  is 
necessary  to  prepare  for  a  successful  career,  in  education,  in  character 
.and  in  ability. 

!  Then  comes  the  Ethics  of  the  chosen  vocation.  Each  profession, 
each  business  has  peculiar  moral  problems,  and  so  in  a  discussion  o: 
a  class,  say,  of  thirty  students,  we  get  splendid  results  from  this  method 
of  bringing  out  the  moral  problems  that  will  come  to  them  from  their 
own  particular,  personal,  concrete  point  of  view. 

The  first  half  of  the  senior  year  is  devoted  to  ethics,  also  from  that 
concrete,  personal  point  of  view.  Why  should  I.  a  teacher,  be  inter- 
ested in  social  settlement  work,  or  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  or  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  or 
any  other  social  movement?  "The  Individual  in  His  Vocation,  and 
Society,"  is  the  title.  The  topic  of  the  latter  half  of  the  senior  year 
is  "Civic  Ethics,"   also  from  the  same  concrete,   personal   point  of 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  14i 

view — the  individual  in  his  vocation,  and  the  state.  You  will  notice 
that  this  is  not  only  a  course  aiming  toward  the  selection  of  a  voca- 
tion, but  is  an  all-round  preparation  for  that  vocation  and  for  a  well- 
rounded  life.  We  didn't  call  it  a  course  in  moral  guidance  until  after 
we  had  followed  it  for  some  time. 

We  began  with  the  Department  of  English,  and  now  we  find  that 
it  is  spreading  to  other  departments.  In  the  Department  of  History, 
for  instance,  the  teacher  has  a  class  in  mediaeval  and  modern  history, 
m  which  the  students  are  looking  forward  to  different  vocations,  such 
as  architecture,  arts  and  crafts,  industries,  transportation,  and  so 
on.  Now.  instead  of  these  pvipils  all  being  obliged  to  do  their  outside 
reading  along  one  given  line  of  institutions,  reigns  of  kings,  dates  and 
all  that  sort  of  thing,  in  which  very  few  of  them  are  at  all  interested, 
they  can  choose  that  line  of  outside  reading  and  notebook  work  that 
is  suggested  by  their  future  ambition.  The  boy,  for  instance,  in  archi- 
tecture can  make  a  splendid  outline  that  will  interest  him  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  orders  of  architecture.  A  similar  application  may  be 
made  to  Latin,  mathematics,  science  and  all  the  other  departments 
showing  how  the  vocational  aim  of  the  pupil  is  made  use  of  to 
strengthen  his  interest  in  the  daily  tasks. 

The  spirit  of  vocational  purpose  has  permeated  the  social  life  of 
the  school,  and  especially  the  Junior  Association  of  Commerce.  This 
Association  has  a  three- fold  purpose:  (i)  To  connect  the  public 
schools  with  the  professional,  commercial  and  industrial  opportunities 
cf  Grand  Rapids ;  (2)  to  give  the  boys  of  the  public  schools  a  broaddr 
view  of  the  work  of  the  world;  and  (3)  to  give  the  boys  an  oppor- 
tunity to  join  with  the  men  of  the  Senior  Association  in  improving 
conditions  in  and  about  our  city.  Their  meetings  are  held  on  alter- 
nate Saturday  mornings.  Usually  there  is  an  address  given  on  a  voca- 
tion by  some  successful  man  in  that  particular  line,  followed  by  a  visit 
to  some  local  industry  or  commercial  house  illustrating  the  address. 
The  Junior  Association  is  divided  into  departments  which  affiliate  with 
similar  departments  in  the  Senior  Association  with  very  satisfactory 
results. 

To  give  any  tangible  report  of  the  results  of  our  four  years  of 
effort  in  this  work  is  very  difficult.  They  are  more  intellectual  and 
spiritual  than  material  and  cannot  be  estimated  by  statistics.  We  no 
longer  consider  vocational  guidance  as  an  experiment  but  as  an  estab- 
nshed  part  of  the  curriculum.  One  must  mingle  with  the  pupils  and 
the  teachers  to  appreciate  the  spirit  of  the  institution.  The  work  has 
at  least  eliminated  a  large  proportion  of  the  drifters  who  were  the 
troublesome  element  of  the  school ;  it  has  reduced  discipline  to  an  al- 
most negligible  quantity.     While  each  pupil  may  not  have  chosen  a  dcfin- 


142  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

ite  career,  he  is  at  least  taking  life  more  seriously;  he  is  making  the  at- 
tempt to  find  that  thing  which  he  must  do  if  he  is  to  fulfill  his  ideals. 

Testimony  of  Pupils 

In  order  that  I  might  bring  you  the  testimony  of  the  pupils  them- 
selves who  have  just  finished  the  course,  I  asked  them  to  answer 
briefly  and  frankly  the  question,  "How  has  the  vocational  study  helped 
you?"  They  were  assured  that  there  was  nothing  personal  to  me 
in  the  question  and  that  all  I  desired  was  a  truthful  statement  of  the 
impression  that  they  had  received  from  the  work.  A  few  character- 
istic replies  will  indicate  the  general  attitude. 

"It  broadened  my  view  of  things  that  I  could  do  in  the  world." 
"It  has  made  me  realize  the  need  of  planning  for  a  career." 
"It  has  aided  me  chiefly  in  showing  me  what  I  ought  not  to  do." 
"It  has  given  me  a  working  plan  for  my  daily  tasks." 

From  the  moral  standpoint,  the  following  replies  are  significant: 

"It  has  kept  the  thought  of  what  I  was  to  do  when  I  finished  school 
constantly  before  me,  and  I  have  studied  harder  and  with  greater  purpose." 

"The  character  studj^  helped  me  most,  as  I  realize  that  there  are 
changes  in  my  character  that  I  must  try  to  make." 

"Never  having  had  to  think  of  earning  my  own  living,  I  had  not 
thought  much  about  vocations;  but  when  compelled  to  write  on  one,  I  be- 
gan to  think,  and  now  I  realize  how  little  I  was  equal  to  doing  anything. 
I  am  seeing  life  in  a  different  light  now,  and  I  am  more  considerate  of  others 
because  I  can  put  myself  in  their  places." 

Testimony  of  Teachers  of  English 

The  twelve  teachers  of  English  in  the  Central  High  School  of 
Grand  Rapids  are  enthusiastic  over  the  results  of  the  work  in  their 
classes.  From  their  reports  I  have  selected  a  few  statements  as  to  the 
effect  in  composition : 

"The  vocational  themes  insure  originality  of  composition  and  provide 
subjects  of  vital  everyday  interest." 

"The  students  now  feel  that  the  study  of  English  is  of  practical  value." 

"The  pupils  enter  the  advanced  classes  with  an  uncommon  interest 
and  earnestness  of  spirit." 

"The  themes  are  well  adapted  to  the  various  forms  of  composition,  and 
we  have  seemed  to  get  inuch  more  out  of  them  than  ever  before." 

The  opinion  of  the  teachers   regarding  the  vocational  value  ot 

the  themes  is  indicated  in  the  following  expressions : 

"It  has  undoubtedly  prevented  some  misfits  in  the  choice  of  vocations." 

'Tt  has  stopped  several  of  my  pupils  who  were  drifting." 

■'Even  though  it  may  not  determine  a  pupil's  actual  vocation  it  adds 

inestimably  to  his  outlook  on  life  and  his  attitude  toward  work,  and  makes 

for  bigger  and  better  lives." 

The  moral  sentiment  can  hardly  be  separated  from  the  vocational. 
Each  teacher  is  very  positive  of  the  ethical  value  of  both  the  oral  and 
written  themes.    They  report : 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  14*^ 

"It  gives  an  opportunity  to  use  the  pupil's  ambition  as  a  lever  to  lift 
him  away  from  harmful  habits  and  to  strengthen  his  character." 

"The  pupils  appreciate  the  fact  that  character  counts  in  practical  life," 
"They  give  evidence  of  a  higher  sense  of  honor,  a  finer  feeling  for 
others  and  a  better  understanding  of  what  is  necessary  to  make  good." 

Perhaps  the  one  bit  of  testimony  that  expresses  more  than  all  the 
rest  is  this :  "It  makes  the  teacher  feel  that  she  is  doing  more  than 
teaching  English ;  that  she  is  having  a  share  in  the  wonderful  work 
of  molding  lives." 

The  last  statement  sounds  the  keynote  of  the  entire  plan.  The 
demand  for  a  practical  course  of  moral  instruction  in  the  public  schools 
and  particularly  in  the  high  school  has  been  urgent  for  many  years. 
It  is  not  effective  when  taught  as  a  course  in  formal  ethics;  it  fails 
to  reach  those  who  need  it  most  when  made  elective;  it  is  not  personal 
or  practical  when  taught  in  the  abstract :  and  it  does  not  give  time  for 
growth  when  given  as  a  single  semester  course.  Through  four  years 
of  composition  work  in  the  Department  of  English,  all  of  these  diffi- 
culties are  surmounted,  and  furthermore,  the  pupils  are  getting  the 
moral  training,  not  as  such,  but  as  a  part  of  practical  preparation  for 
life.  With  the  wide  choice  of  subjects  in  the  cosmopolitan  high 
school,  with  the  diversity  of  entrance  requirements  for  technical 
schools  and  colleges,  and  with  the  need  of  a  closer  relationship  between 
the  public  schools  and  the  commercial  and  industrial  community  that 
supports  them,  comes  this  most  positive  demand.  By  this  plan  of 
Vocational  Guidance  we  attempt  to  guide  and  prepare  those  who  are 
to  go  out  into  the  numerous  ways  in  life  in  a  manner  that  will  elimi- 
nate the  misfits  and  that  will  make  for  a  greater  efficiency  in  every 
vocation. 

The  Chairman  :  There  is  so  much  misunderstanding  in  the  world 
that  rests  upon  words  poorly  defined  that  I  think  we  owe  a  special  debt 
of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Davis  for  giving  us  a  more  precise  idea  of  what  we 
mean  by  placement.  Placement  means  something  that  the  conscien- 
tious teachers  have  been  doing  for  many,  many  years,  even  before  we 
discovered  that  vocational  guidance  was  the  important  thing  in  life. 
TJy  placement  we  mean  finding  for  each  child  the  next  best  thing  for 
him  to  do,  not  necessarily  this  minute  or  this  week,  but  at  the  close  of 
the  school  term,  say.  The  questions  of  promotion  and  retardation  are 
questions  of  placement,  the  question  of  going  out  of  this  or  that  school 
i:-  a  question  of  placement,  and  the  .question  of  going  to  college  or 
going  to  the  foundry  is  also  a  question  of  placement.  Of  course,  in  this 
case,  the  question  of  placement  is  fundamentally  an  educational  prob- 
lem, a  problem  for  the  pedagog,  for  the  social  worker,  rather  than  for 
the  employment  agent  who  places  them  at  so  much  per  head. 


:44  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION 

The  problem  of  vocational  guidance  has  been  heard  of  a  great  deal, 
largely  in  connection  with  the  overgrown  cities ;  the  cities  whose  indus- 
tries are  of  a  kind  that  the  parents  of  the  children  never  heard  of,  be- 
cause our  population  has  drifted  from  the  country  to  the  city  so  rapidly 
that  the  parents  do  not  know,  in  very  many  cases,  what  kind  of  a  thing 
the  citv  is.  except  in  relation  to  the  immediate  job  the  parent  happens  to 
be  following.  But  in  the  meanwhile,  the  small  town  and  the  country  still 
remain,  and  very  little  has  been  done  that  the  public  knows  of  in  con- 
tiection  with  the  small  cities'  problem.  I  am  very  glad  to  have 
Mis.s  McCoRD  here,  who  will  speak  on  the  application  of  vocational 
guidance  to  the  smaller  cities. 


VOCATIONAL     GUIDANCE     FOR  .SMALLER     CITIES 

Annie  E.  McCord 
Director,  Vocation  Bureau,  Pittsburgh 

Perhaps  the  experience  of  Pittsburgh  in  developing  its  Voca- 
tion Bureau  will  be  of  most  direct  help  to  those  who  have  come  to 
this  conference  from  other  cities,  and  find  it  difficult  to  adapt  to  their 
smaller  needs  programs  mapped  out  for  the  larger  needs  of  New 
\ork,  Boston  and  other  cities.  When  established  a  year  and  a  half 
?go,  the  Pittsburgh  Vocation  Bureau  faced  a  similar  problem.  Before 
making  plans  we  sought  advice  and  information  from  those  places 
where  work  already  had  been  started.  This  was  kindly  and  generously 
given.  But  we  soon  found  local  conditions  did  not  permit  adapta- 
tion.   We  had  to  work  out  our  own  salvation. 

Part  of  Social  Aivakening 

Vocation  Bureaus  will  come  to  some  cities  as  a  natural  next  step  vc. 
their  work  for  children.  Here  the  problem  should  be  comparatively 
Simple.  In  others,  such  w^ork  will  be  part  of  a  great  social  awakening. 
This  was  the  case  in  Pittsburgh. 

Our  bureau  was  established  about  the  time  the  new  city  charter 
was  secured  and  just  previous  to  the  reorganization  of  the  public 
schools  under  the  new  school  code.  There  also  followed  an  up-to-date 
Board  of  Education  and  a  progressive  Superintendent  of  Schools. 
Summer  grammar  and  high  school  classes  have  been  started  for  the 
children  who  failed  to  pass.  A  change  was  made  from  yearly  to 
half  yearly  entrance  to  high  school.  Special  classes  are  being  estab- 
lished for  those  behind  in  their  studies  and  for  the  mentally  retarded. 
A  month  ago  two  elementary  industrial  schools  were  organized  which 
will  help  to  work  out  a  definite  scheme  of  prevocational  training  for 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  Ub 

boys  and  girls.     These  are  but  beginnings,  it  is  true,  but  reveal  the 
general  situation  and  progress. 

An  Unexplored  Field 
In  establishing  the  bureau  we  had  practically  an  unexplored 
field  before  us.  Excepting  Miss  Elizabeth  Butler's  general  study 
of  Women  in  the  Trades,  a  part  of  the  "Pittsburgh  Survey,"  the'-e 
was  no  available  information  regarding  the  industries  of  the  cityi 
No  organization  was  making  an  intensive  investigation  of  occupations ; 
no  studies  had  been  made  of  educational  opportunities ;  and,  excepting 
the  small  Labor  Bureau  of  the  Council  of  Jewish  Women,  there  was 
no  place  where  would-be  workers  could  be  sent  for  careful  placement 
and  follow-up  work. 

Three  Weeks  Survey 
A  three  weeks'   preliminary   survey   resulted   in   this   outline   of 
plans  submitted  to  the  Educational  Fund  Commission,  under  whose 
auspices  the  Bureau  was  started : 

I.  A  thorough  study  of  the  industries  of  the  city  for  the  purpose  of 
learning,  not  only  conditions  of  industry,  but  what  particular  form 
of  education  would  fit  a  child  to  make  a  success  in  a  particular 
line  of  work, 
i;.  A  careful  follow-up  of  groups  of  children  who  left  school  in 
previous  years,  to  learn  their  occupational  histories,  secure  knowl- 
edge of  the  conditions  under  which  they  worked,  and  through 
these  to  find  what  place  education  holds  in  the  work  of  the  com- 
munity. 
3.  A  study  of  children  and  industries  in  one  school  district,  by  work- 
ing as   "home   and   school   visitors"   under   the   direction   of   the 

JJ'^ork  with  Individual 
The  Commission,  after  careful  consideration,  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  before  undertaking  any  of  these  plans,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  demonstrate  thoroughly  the  need  and  value  of  vocational  guid- 
ance in  Pittsburgh.  It  was  therefore  decided  that  the  Bureau  should 
devote  its  first  year  to  studying  children  as  they  left  school ;  helping 
them  to  choose  the  right  road  and  advising  and  guiding  them  after 
the  choice  was  made.   The  work,  in  brief,  has  been : 

1.  A  personal  private  interview  with  each  applicant  at  the  office. 

2.  Visits  to  the  home,  school,  and  wherever  else  necessary,  to  enlist 
co-operation  and  to  supplement  the  information  secured  from  the 
child. 

3.  A  study  of  the  opportunities  in  industry  or  education  suited  to 
the  needs  of  the  individual  case, 

4       Careful  follow-up  work. 


146  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

Records 
Records  have  been  kept  of  all  information  thus  secured.  A  series 
of  five  cards  gives  the  personal,  family  and  industrial  records,  school 
statement  and  blanks  for  detailed  notes  of  each  inter\aew  or  visit. 
The  statistical  study  of  this  material  will  form  a  nucleus  of 
the  research  work  outlined  at  the  beginning.  Its  value  will  be  in- 
creased because  of  our  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  children  con- 
ctrned.  They  have  come  to  us  from  all  parts  of  the  city  and,  I  believe, 
form  a  fairly  representative  group  of  the  school  population. 

Guidance  Into  Education 
"Alore  educati  n"  has  been  our  slogan  for  children  who  already 
have  been  employed,  as  well  as  for  those  just  leaving  school.  While 
we  have  helped  place  a  number  of  the  former,  we  have  insisted  on  more 
schooling  for  the  latter,  except  in  the  few  cases  where  it  was  finan- 
cially impossible.  In  no  case  have  we  made  a  placement  a  substitute 
for  advice  not  followed.  Such  cases  must  find  their  own  employment. 
What  placement  we  have  done  has  demonstrated  the  waste  of  time 
in  placing,  unless  some  method  can  be  devised  to  keep  the  child  in 
the  position  secured  for  him.  instead  of  leaving  at  the  end  of  a  week 
or  two  for  less  promising,  but  better  paying  employment.  This  ap- 
plies to  those  above  sixteen  as  well  as  below. 

Experimental  Work  Worth  IVhile 

That  which  has  been  accomplished  for  the  350  applicants  has 
demonstrated  the  need  in  Pittsburgh  for  vocational  guidance  based 
on  thorough  investigation. 

Our  experience  convinces  me  that  for  communities  similar  to 
Pittsburgh,  unless  funds  can  be  secured  to  finance  for  several  years' 
necessary  research,  that  a  year  spent  in  experimental  work  would 
be  of  much  value  in  gaining  the  public  confidence  and  co-operation 
needed  for  placing  the  work  on  a  more  thorough  and  definite  basis. 


The  Chairman  :  It  is  characteristic  of  the  hold  that  the  new  ideas 
in  education  have  taken  upon  the  workers  in  the  rut,  that  the  one  most 
lady-like  high  school  in  our  city,  the  one  that  has  for  generations  stood 
for  the  academic  point  of  view,  the  classical,  what  Mr.  Davis  calls  the 
medieval  (with  what  I  suspect  to  be  an  air  of  disdain)  but  which  has 
served  its  purposes  and  has  had  its  excuses — that  this  one  school 
should  have  done  so  much  for  vocational  guidance  in  direct  relation  to 
the  problem  of  the  individual  pupil.     It  has  not,  indeed,  reduced  its 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  14? 

course  of  study  or  changed  its  methods  of  administration  in  conform- 
ity  with  the  new  ideal,  but  is  has  introduced  an  opportunity  for  its 
pupils  to  come  to  a  certain  extent  into  direct  contact  with  the  problem 
of  "What  kind  of  life  shall  I  live."  or,  "What  shall  be  my  work  in  life?" 
This  work  is  done  by  the  school  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Turner, 
the  assistant  principal  of  Erasmus  Hall  High  School  in  Brooklyn. 


VOCATIONAL      CONFERENCES      WITH       EXPERT 

WORKERS 

Kate  E.  Turner 
Assistant  Principal  Erasmus  Hall  High  School,  Brooklyn 

It  has  come  about  in  a  rather  quiet  way  that  we,  who  are  trained 
and  hired  to  dispense  Latin,  Greek,  English  or  Mathematics,  are  grow- 
ing quite  concerned  about  the  answer  to  the  question,  "After  all  this 
Latin,  Greek,  English  or  Mathematics  is  absorbed  by  these  young 
people,  what  then?"  And  it  is  becoming  so  much  a  matter  of  concern 
that  I  venture  to  say  that  some  of  us  are  drawing  largely  on  the 
energy  that  went  with  the  Latin  conjugations  and  mathematical  equa- 
tions for  the  solution  of  this  other  question.  No  one  can  know  boys 
£'nd  girls  without  getting  interested  in  what  they  are  going  to  do  in 
the  world. 

For  a  long  time  some  of  us  in  this  city  of  New  York  wondered 
what  we  could  do,  knowing  right  well  that  something  should  be  done 
in  the  way  of  issuing  to  these  young  folks  some  sort  of  transfer  ticket 
or  guide  to  the  big  world  of  service  and  bread  and  butter  which  lies 
beyond  the  high  .school  class-room.  Pioneers  like  Mr.  Weaver  and 
Miss  Rodman  undenook  to  work  out  something  for  themselves  instead 
of  wondering,  and  then  a  few  more  of  us  ventured  forth ;  but  for  the 
most  part  our  efforts  have  been  almost  entirely  devoted  in  a  groping 
sort  of  way  to  solving  the  question  for  our  own  school  families. 

The  Vocational  Outlook  for  Girls. 

I  have  been  asked  to  deal  with  the  question  of  vocational  guidance 
for  girls,  as  my  experience,  although  in  a  mixed  school,  has  been  en- 
tirely with  the  girls. 

The  question  with  boys  is  a  difficult  one.  but  I  frankly  acknowl- 
edge that  the  question  for  girls  is  a  poser.  I  also  admit  that  it  is  a 
problem  that  women  and  girls  must  solve  for  themselves.  No  one  is 
able  to  do  it  for  them.  They  must  know  definitely  what  they  need 
and  what  they  can  do.  The  world — and  that  means  mostly  men — 
must  have  faith  in  their  ability  and  their  earnestness  and  courage. 


14S  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

Now  just  why  do  I  admit  so  much  difficulty?  If  we  are  going 
into  this  business  of  advising,  we  might  just  as  well  first  as  last  define 
our  attihidc  toward  work  and  service  for  girls  and  women.  And  this 
is  the  difficulty — it  never  can  come  up  with  the  boys — what  relation 
c'oes  all  this  vocational  work  bear  to  the  young  woman's  function  in 
the  world  as  mother  of  the  race?  There  are  at  present  some  very 
jarring  relations,  some  lack  of  co-ordination  between  the  two.  What 
regard  and  consideration  can  we  have  for  this  important  honor  nature 
l;as  seen  fit  to  trust  to  women? 

The  Changing  Sphere  of  Woman. 

If  we  are  going  to  get  the  young  woman  interested  in  any  field 
for  which  she  must  spend  four  years  in  high  school,  perhaps  in  col- 
lege for  four  years,  and  perhaps  two  more  in  professional  training, 
what  assurance  can  we  give  her  that  it  is  the  thing  for  her  and  quite 
worth  while?  Is  it  right  to  have  her  feel  that  she  must  enter  seriously 
mto  preparation  for  service  or  citizenship  when  her  marriage  v/ill 
probably  end  it  all?  Is  it  worth  while  to  pretend  that  there  is  any- 
thing serious  in  this  vocational  work  for  girls  when  most  of  the  pres- 
ent requirements  and  conventions  demand  that  everything  be  dropped 
with  marriage?  Even  we  women  teachers  have  been  told  that  one 
undesirable  thing  about  our  work  is  that  we  make  it  a  temporary 
occupation  until  marriage,  and  so  cannot  devote  ourselves  as  one  who 
looks  upon  his  occupation  as  permanent.  All  attempts  of  the  women 
teachers  to  adjust  one  condition  to  the  other  have  been  mercilessly 
derided  and  rebuffed.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  must  stop  and  get  our 
attitude  toward  this  relation  of  work  and  motherhood.  There  is 
no  use  dodging  it.  We  can't  get  very  far  before  we  meet  it.  It  is  m 
the  back  of  every  girl's  head. 

Is  this  work  we  are  advising  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  little  money  ? 
Is  it  something  to  fill  up  a  gap?  Is  it  a  temporary  affair  until  som<; 
one  comes  along  who  will  support  her?  Or  is  it  an  abiding  interest  in 
some  service  and  work  that  the  young  woman  will  carry  through  life 
as  a  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  humanity?  It  is  without  doubt  one 
of  the  large  questions  to-day.  What  is  your  attitude?  I  hope  you 
agree  with  me  that  some  adjustment  is  necessary  in  our  ideas  and  in 
our  conditions.  The  solution  lies  mostly  with  women  themselves,  and 
I  have  great  faith  in  women.  I  feel  they  are  going  to  solve  it  in  the 
best  possible  way  for  the  interest  of  humanity.  We  specialists  must, 
ask  ourselves: 

I.  Do  we  believe  in  the  present  unorganized  condition  of  what 
^ve  call  woman's  sphere,  that  is,  the  individual  home,  where  the  pur- 
chasing and  preparation  of  food,  sewing,  laundry  work,  cleaning,  the 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  149 

raising  and  care  of  infants,  and  general  administration  call  for  experts, 
and  almost  any  one  of  which  by  itself  is  a  profession?  All  of  these 
we  impatiently  demand  of  one  untrained  young  mother. 

2.  Can  we  consider  and  work  for  a  slow  and  gradual  adjustment 
of  ideas,  sentiments  and  attitude  towards  woman's  sphere  which  we 
really  believe  will  work  harmoniously  wnth  woman's  best  development 
and  service  for  humanity?  The  Mayor  of  Toledo  says  in  the  October 
Metropoliian  that  we  are  thinking  in  the  terms  of  a  day  that  is  dead, 
a  day  when  the  home  was  a  self -sufficient  social  unit,  in  a  time  of  the 
old  individualistic  order;  and  perhaps  we  are.  Can  we  see  our  way 
out  of  all  this  clearly?  Not  quite  as  yet.  Primarily,  because  we  have 
not  adjusted  our  sentiments.  We  don't  feel  much  sentiment  as  yet 
for  the  large  city  home  or  the  still  larger  nation  home,  or  much  con- 
cern for  all  women,  all  men  and  children.  But  this  is  the  age  of 
co-operation,  and  it  is  a  good  time  to  strike. 

While  we  are  standing  here  discussing  this  question,  girls  and 
women  to  the  number  of  eight  million  (in  1910)  are  out  in  the  indus- 
trial and  wage-earning  world,  endeavoring  to  adjust  themselves. 
Jane  Addams  in  A  New  Conscience  and  an  Ancient  Evil  states  that 
59%  of  all  young  w^omen  in  the  nation  between  the  ages  of  sixteen 
and  twenty  are  engaged  in  some  gainful  occupation.  Shall  we  change 
the  women  or  shall  w^e  change  conditions?  If  the  individualistic  order 
of  homes  could  adjust  itself  to  the  maternal  and  industrial  life  of  the 
women,  is  it  going  to  be  too  much  to  ask  of  the  larger  social  home  to 
adjust  itself  to  her  conditions  now?  One  of  the  largest  problems  of 
Lo-day  is  the  industrial,  political  and  moral  adjustment  of  zvoman,  and 
we  might  as  well  ascknowledge  that  the  whole  world  is  "up  against  it." 

The  narrow,  prescribed  life  of  woman  is  at  an  end.  Shall  wo, 
at  the  initial  step  of  our  work,  start  with  a  determination  to  hinder 
her  adjustment,  or  shall  we  courageously  determine  to  help  her  adjust- 
ment? Great  and  good  women  like  Olive  Schreiner,  Charlotte  Per- 
kins Oilman  and  Jane  Addams,  are  interesting  and  most  helpful  in 
their  writings  and  talks  on  these  conditions.  Lester  Ward's  Pure 
Sociology,  Chapter  XIV,  gives  every  woman  great  hope. 

3.  How  can  we  help  in  this  adjustment?  By  getting  a  sane, 
scientific  human  view-point  in  regard  to  women  and  the  world.  By 
getting  an  understanding  of  industrial,  political,  physical  and  moral 
conditions.  To  me  the  greatest  help  towards  the  solution  would  be 
the  hope  of  establishing  the  economic  independence  of  all  women. 

Bringing  Life  to  the  Children. 

It  may  seem  that  I  have  gone  far  afield  in  the  discussion  of 
vocational  guidance  for  girls,  but   I  hope  }ou   feel   it  is   as  closely 


150  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

related  to  the  question  in  hand  as  I  have  tried  to  make  it  appear  it  is 
to  me.    And  now  to  the  concrete  experience  in  our  own  school. 

About  three  years  ago  we  started  in  to  develop  in  our  large 
assembly  of  1,500  boys  and  girls  a  series  of  general  talks  on  voca- 
tions. We  had  one  on  engineering,  another  on  advertising  and  a  couple 
on  domestic  science.  But  although  the  speakers  were  good,  the  talks 
fell  flat.  We  decided  that  the  groups  were  too  large,  and  the  inter- 
ests were  so  diverse  that  no  personal  application  seemed  to  be  made, 
and  so  this  method  was  dropped. 

Our  main  object  was  to  give  some  information  first-hand  to  the 
pupils,  and  to  let  them  see  and  hear  people  who  were  doing  great  things 
in  the  world.  Our  method  had  to  change,  but  our  objects  remained  the 
same. 

It  was  decided  to  try  out  a  new  scheme  with  the  girls  of  the  school. 
It  seemed  to  us  that  a  platform  address  was  much  too  formal  a  way 
of  getting  acquainted  with  the  speaker  who  was  to  personally  inspire 
these  young  people  with  any  interest  in  a  subject.  So  a  smaller  room 
was  chosen  for  the  work,  and  our  library,  which  accommodates  about 
a  hundred,  was  selected.  Just  how  to  get  the  scheme  working  was  a 
question,  but  it  occurred  to  us  that  with  so  many  student  clubs  as 
there  are  in  our  school  there  might  be  one  which  could  help  in  taking 
up  the  work.  The  Arista  girls  were  called  together,  and  the  idea  of 
helping  the  girls  of  the  school  to  get  information  along  the  various 
hues  of  work  that  women  are  doing  in  the  world,  was  placed  before 
them  with  the  suggestion  that  the  Arista  girls  take  charge  of  the  run- 
ning of  the  scheme,  provided  the  speakers  were  secured  by  a  member 
of  the  faculty.     They  unanimously  approved  and  seemed  enthusiastic. 

There  were  thirty-five  of  these  Arista  girls,  and  they  were  divided 
into  various  committees,  one  on  Arrangements,  which  was  to  look  after 
the  care  of  the  library  for  the  afternoon  of  the  talk ;  one  on  Publicity, 
which  was  to  post  bulletins  in  various  parts  of  the  school ;  one  on 
Invitations,  whose  duty  it  was  to  invite  the  speakers  ^nd  arrange  for 
tickets  of  admission  for  the  girls  of  the  school ;  one  on  Reception, 
which  was  to  look  after  the  girls  of  the  school  who  attended  the 
meeting;  and  the  Press  Committee,  whose  duty  it  was  to  write  up  the 
talk  for  the  school  paper  and  a  couple  of  newspapers.  This  got  the 
thirty-five  girls  all  busy,  and  incidentally  thirty-five  girls  stimulated 
many  another  thirty-five.  The  meetings  were  to  be  held  every  other 
Thursday  at  2:45  in  the  Library,  and  they  called  themselves  the  Fort- 
nightly.   The  first  thing  to  look  for  was  speakers. 

Women  Helping  Other  Women. 
We  happened  to  have  among  our  alumni  some  girls  who  were 
doing  splendid  work  in  newspaper  lines  and  in  social   service.     We 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  151 

called  upon  them  and  asked  them  as  old  Erasmus  Hall  girls  to  come 
and  start  the  meetings,  and  we  scheduled  two  talks,  one  on  Newspaper 
Work,  another  on  Municipal  Housekeeping,  and  the  third  on  Physical 
Training  as  a  Profession.  From  the  very  first  we  decided  that  we 
would  have  no  men  talk  to  these  girl.s,  for  the  very  reason  that  girls 
knew  that  the  men  could  do  just  about  what  they  set  out  to  do  in  the 
industrial  and  professional  world.  So  we  confined  our  speakers  lo 
women  who  were  "making  good"  along  their  chosen  lines  of  work. 

Our  first  meeting  brought  out  about  eighty  girls.  The  arrange- 
ments for  it  were  something  along  these  lines.  The  talk  itself  was 
to  be  about  thirty  minutes  in  length,  with  a  ten-minute  question  period 
at  the  end.  The  meeting  from  then  on  was  turned  into  a  social  one, 
during  which  the  pupils  were  introduced  to  the  speaker,  and  light  re- 
freshments were  served. 

We  were  a  little  anxious  about  the  question  period,  so  we  had 
pencils  and  paper  put  on  each  chair  for  the  timid  ones  to  write  out 
their  questions.  I  have  been  to  many  a  round  table  of  adults,  and  I 
am  free  to  say  that  the  young  people  were  more  alive  as  to  what  they 
wanted  to  know  than  many  a  grown  up  person.  We  were  often 
obliged  to  stop  the  questions,  as  they  would  have  overrun  the 
time  allotted  to  this  part  of  the  program.  One  of  the  most 
valuable  features  of  the  afternoon  was  the  personal  contact  with 
the  speaker  and  the  answers  received  to  personal  inquiries.  We  felt 
it  was  worth  while  to  go  on,  and  this  sent  us  scouring  over  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  in  search  of  women  whom  we  wanted  to  hear.  It  was 
not  at  all  difficult  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  any  woman  whom  we 
approached.  They  all  seemed  most  interested  to  come  and  tell  the 
girls  of  the  difficulties,  the  preparation,  the  experience  and  the  possi- 
bilities in  their  particular  lines  of  work.  When  we  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  one  successful  woman,  she  was  very  useful  in  introducing  us 
to  other  successful  women,  until  we  began  to  feel  that  all  of  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Broadway  had  offices  filled  with  distinguished  women 
workers.  There  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  the  supply  of  women  who 
would  come  and  talk  to  us.  Never  once  were  we  told  that  they  were 
too  busy,  couldn't  spare  the  time,  or  didn't  care  to  talk  to  otn-  girls. 
Their  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  of  the  girls  in  industry  was  amaz- 
ing.   The  talks  during  the  two  years  have  been : 

Physical  Training  as  a  Profession,  Jessie  H.  Bancroft,  Director  of 
Physical  Training. 

Ncivspaper  Work,  Mary  Ormsbee,  Editor  of  the  Edison  Monthly. 

Hospital  Work  and  Nursing,  Mrs.    M.    E.    Rogers,    .Superintendent 
Nurses'  Training  School. 


152  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

Municipal  Housekeeping,  Genevieve   Beavers,   Stevens  P'und. 
Preparation  and  Opportunities  of  an  Art  Teacher,  Kate  C.  Simmons, 

Art  School  of  Portland,  Oregon. 
Medicine  as  a  Profession,  Dr.  Mary  M.  Crawford. 
Lazv  as  a  Profession,  Bertha  Rembaugh. 
Kindergartning,   Margaret   M.    Simmons,   Assistant    Superintendent 

of  Kindergartens. 
Architecture,  Fay  Kellogg. 
Artistic  Photography,  Alice  Boughton. 
Social  Service  and  Settlement  Work,  Delia  A.  Stebbins. 
Library  Work,  Mary  W.  Plummer,  New  York  Public  Library. 
Secretarial  Work,  Martha  Suffren,  Polytechnic  Institute. 
Illustrating,  Florence  Storer. 
Interior  Decoration,  Birdaline  Bowdot.n. 
Advertising,  Virginia  E.  Banks. 
Costume  and  Commercial  Illustrating,  Grace  Clark,  Pratt  Institute. 

The  Results. 

The  attendance  of  these  conferences  varied  from  forty  or  fifty 
to  about  loo.  No  girl  was  required  to  attend,  but  all  who  wished  to 
come  were  welcome.  It  is  difficult  to  measure  in  any  way  the  results 
of  these  talks.  It  is  very  intangible.  The  only  palpable  evidence  we 
have  of  any  results  is  the  fact  that  a  little  Library  Club  for  the  study 
of  library  work  has  been  formed  in  the  school,  that  a  Social  Study 
Club  has  been  organized,  and  that  a  club  for  girls  interested  in  com- 
mercial advertising  have  banded  themselves  together.  On  the  whole, 
it  seems  to  us  that  the  girls  now  think  it  is  a  reasonable  thing  to  be 
mterested  in  lines  of  work.  They  have  not  made  any  particular  de- 
cisions. Some  of  them  attended  every  single  conference.  They  are 
perhaps  more  at  sea  than  ever  but  they  are  better  informed  and  more 
intelligent. 

We  feel  that  the  present  need  of  the  girls  is  to  know  something 
about  what  women  can  do  and  are  doing,  and  if  we  can  let  in  a  little 
light  on  the  subject,  we  are  doing  what  is  necessary  at  this  particular 
moment  of  our  lives.  This  fall  in  order  to  get  a  gauge  on  their  atti- 
tude toward  these  talks,  we  have  asked  them  to  hand  in  the  names  of 
subjects  that  they  wish  discussed  at  the  Fortnightly,  and  the  tabulations 
of  the  requests  developed  these  facts.  Teaching  in  the  grades,  sec- 
retarial work,  kindergartning,  domestic  science,  library  work,  physi- 
cal training,  teaching  of  art,  settlement  work,  nursing  and  costume 
designing  lead  in  numbers.    These  are  about  the  subjects  we  gave  last 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  153 

year,  and  it  is  a  question  with  us  whether  the  girls  are  asking  for  the 
same  subjects  over  again,  because  they  were  interested  in  what  they 
learned  about  them,  or  whether  it  is  because  we  chose  the  right  line 
of  work  for  girls  to  be  interested  in  last  year.  There  were  some  very 
original  requests,  among  which  we  found  that  one  girl  wished  to  be- 
come a  surgeon,  another  a  detective.  Another  was  thinking  of  run- 
ning a  cattery.  Moving  picture  actors-to-be  wished  information  on 
the  subject.  Another  wanted  light  on  missionary  work.  One  is  to 
be  a  public  speaker,  another  a  story  writer,  and  still  another  is  going  to 
raise  bees.  In  all  there  were  thirty-five  different  lines  of  works  sug- 
gested. 

It  seems  wise  to  us  to  bring  in  some  of  the  unusual  subjects  in 
our  talks  for  this  year,  for  I  consider  the  main  reason  for  the  re- 
quests duplicating  last  year's  subjects  is  due  to  the  fact  that  those 
are  the  subjects  that  they  know  about.  Other  subjects  of  which  they 
never  have  heard  may  prove  equally  interesting.  The  interest  of  the 
Arista  girls  in  the  outcome  of  these  requests  for  talks  this  year  is 
\  ery  intense,  and  they  are  busy  tabulating  them  for  us.  I  believe  that 
this  student  interest  is  a  great  asset  in  the  development  of  this  line  of 
work  in  the  school. 

The  Social  Meaning  of  it  All. 

Just  what  developments  the  work  will  take  on  this  year  we  are 
not  sure  of.  Any  experimental  work  necessitates  a  great  deal  of  wait- 
mg  and  watching,  and  we  are  not  looking  for  any  particular  results 
at  present.  It  would  be  wiser  to  keep  a  girl  from  getting  into  some 
line  of  work  that  she  is  not  fitted  for  than  simply  to  be  glad  that  she 
has  settled  the  question  for  herself.  We  are  not  going  to  worry  in 
regard  to  the  amount  of  time  we  take  in  enlightening  the  prospective 
woman  of  to-morrow. 

The  most  important  point  is  to  make  her  alive  to  what  service  is 
to  be  demanded  of  the  women  of  to-morrow,  and  just  what  relation  she 
is  going  to  bear  to  it.  For  those  of  us  who  are  interested  in  this  line 
of  work  the  difficulty  will  not  be  to  have  girls  study  themselves  or  study 
vocations,  or  select  a  particular  line  of  work  and  be  prepared  for  it, 
but  it  will  be  the  larger  world  problem  of  the  adjustment  of  all  women 
ic  the  work  of  the  world. 


VOCATIONAL      GUIDANCE      AND      VOCATIONAL      IN- 
VESTIGATION   UNDER    THE    DIRECTION    OF 
THE    BOSTON     SCHOOL    BOARD 

Miss  Eleanor  Colleton 
Vocational  Adviser  Public  Schools,  Boston 

I  want  to  be  brief,  and  yet  want  to  say  a  deal.  1  am  going  to  gv.'Q 
&  short  account  of  an  investigation  which  I  have  just  completed  for 
the  School  Committee  of  Boston  with  some  of  the  deductions  and 
recommendations  based  thereon. 

Most  of  the  speakers  this  morning  have  dealt  with  a  very  im- 
portant factor  in  child  life,  and  that  is  the  high  school  pupil  and  the 
high  school  graduate.  What  I  am  going  to  speak  of  wall  concern 
largely  the  elementary  school  child;  the  child  who  either  prepares 
to  go  into  the  high  school  and  thus  possibly  becomes  one  of  those 
who  have  been  discussed  here  this  morning,  or  who  elects  not  to  go, 
and  goes  out  instead  into  that  great  industrial  world  that  we  all  agree 
at  this  time,  is  a  pretty  dark  atmosphere  in  which  to  work  unless  one 
has  some  definite  preparation. 

Vocational  Guidance  in  the  Boston  School  System 
Now,  in  Boston,  while  we  have  no  such  system  of  vocational 
co-ordination  as  was  outlined  by  the  previous  speaker,  we  have  a 
system.  It  is  chiefly  a  sort  of  voluntary  system  of  vocational  instruc- 
tion. We  have  vocational  counsellors  in  the  elementary  schools — • 
in  all  the  elementary  schools.  We  have  vocational  assistants,  actual 
advisers  and  placement  workers,  in  some  high  schools  and  in  the 
trade  schools.  This  morning  I  want  to  limit  my  discourse  more 
particularly  to  the  elementary  schools,  as  my  investigation  was  there, 
and  as  the  elementary  schools  constitute  quite  a  feature  in  the  great 
problem  of  vocational  guidance. 

These  voluntary  vocational  counsellors  are  usually  the  teachers 
of  the  graduation  classes.  Their  duties  are  largely  to  counsel  the  girls 
and  boys  who  are  to  graduate,  as  to  the  advisability  of  continuing  in 
school.  Their  duty  is  not  only  that,  but  to  advise  as  to  the  occupa- 
tions into  which  the  girls  and  boys  can  go,  if  they  will  attend  a  course 
in  some  kind  of  vocational  school,  if  a  course  in  the  High  .School  is 
t!Ot  feasible. 

Now,  you  ask  me  where  do  these  vocational  counsellors  get 
their  information?  For  over  two  years  we  have  had  a  series  of 
conferences  held  in  the  Central  School  Committee  building  splendidly 
attended,  attendance  absolutely  not  compulsory  upon  the  part  of  the 
teachers  at  all.  at  which  conferences  information  is  given  by  experts. 

154 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  155 

Now,  these  experts  may  be  heads  of  schools,  each  of  whom  comes 
to  make  it  clear  to  the  vocational  counsellors  how  his  or  her  special 
school  differs  from  the  other  high  schools,  or  trade  schools  or  voca- 
tional schools  of  the  city ;  or  again  the  speakers  may  be  experts  in 
certain  lines  of  industry  to  which  many  of  the  boys  and  girls  can 
go  with  some  chance  of  advancement.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to 
have  attended  a  conference  where  a  talk  was  given  on  an  occupation 
that  led  nowhere.  The  talks  are  given  on  a  chosen  list  of  industries 
or  occupations  which  lead  somewhere,  which  are  described  in  their 
fullness  by  an  expert,  discussion  following,  so  that  you  can  under- 
stand,  as  this  has  been  going  on  for  over  two  years,  the  vocational 
counsellors  should  at  least  have  much  general  information  gathered 
from  reliable  sources  with  which  to  instruct  and  inspire  their  pupils. 

Vo catio n a!   In vestigatio n 

Having  reached  this  stage  in  vocational  work,  the  School  Com- 
mittee was  approached  by  representatives  of,  the  Vocation  Bureau, 
which  has  been  conducting  these  conferences  and  has  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  vocational  counsellors  to  get  all  this  information  above 
described  with  this  request :  "Is  it  not  feasible  to  do  something  a  little 
further  along  the  lines  of  vocational  guidance  in  Boston?" 

Before  the  School  Committee  would  make  any  kind  of  answer 
they  said :  "We  must  investigate.  We  hear  that  the  boys  and  girls 
go  out  into  these  blind  alley  industries;  we  hear  that  they  do  this, 
but  now,  we  really  want  to  know  a  few  definite  local  facts."'  And  this 
brings  me  to  what  w^as  done  last  year,  and  why  I  feel  that  1  have 
any  right  to  be  here  to  speak  to  you  this  morning.  The  School  Com- 
mittee planned  as  follows :  "We  shall  excuse  two  teachers  from  their 
class  rooms,  teachers  who  have  the  social  attitude  as  well  as  the 
educational  attitude  towards  the  children  that  they  may  make  an 
investigation.  We  shall  excuse  them  from  their  class  room  (this 
was  in  November)  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  We  shall  send  them  out 
and  we  shall  ask  them  to  take  up  the  work  in  given  schools  in  such 
a  way  that  they  may  answer  at  the  end :  First,  why  do  so  many 
boys  and  girls  leave  school  the  moment  the  compulsory  attendance 
law  permits  them  to  make  a  choice?  To  what  extent  does  the  poor 
financial  condition  of  the  home  constitute  the  primary  reason  why 
children  leave  school  and  go  to  work?  Into  v;hat  kind  of  industries 
do  the  children  enter?  How  do  the  children  find  the  particular  occu- 
pation into  which  they  enter?  What  are  the  wages  and  what  per- 
centage of  the  children,  who  go  to  work  declaring  that  it  is  because 
of  financial  necessity,  are  really  benefited  by  the  work  that  they 
choose,  and  how  beneficial  is  the  help  that  the  family  gets  from  the 


156  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION 

child's  labor?     What  percentage  of  graduates   enter   High   School? 
\\'hat  percentage  of  these  finish  the  first  year?" 

]\Ik.  \A'm.  ]\Iiller,  a  sub-master,  and  I  were  assigned  to  make  the 
investigation.  I  took  charge  of  the  girls'  schools,  and  he  took  charge 
of  the  boys'  schools.  As  I  said,  the  investigation  was  limited  to 
elementary  schools.  Each  was  assigned  two  schools,  one  located 
in  the  downtown  section  of  the  city  in  which  the  non-English  speak- 
ing immigrants  reside,  the  boys'  school  in  the  Jewish  quarter,  the  girls' 
in  the  Italian  quarter.  There  the  school  was  attended  largely  by 
children  of  these  non-English  speaking  immigrants.  To  balance  that, 
another  schooh  was  chosen  in  another  section  of  the  city,  where  im- 
migration of  the  non-English  speaking  races  has  made  very  little 
inroad,  where  the  children  attending  the  school  are  all  sons  and 
daughters  of  English  speaking  races  and  where  a  large  proportion 
of  the  fathers  and  mothers  were  born  in  this  country.  It  was  felt 
that  the  results  gained  in  one  school  would  balance  the  results  gained 
in  another,  and  that  we 'would  get  a  fairly  good  estimate  of  why  the 
children  left  school ;  also  practical  information  as  outlined  in  the  ques- 
tions above. 

Mode  of  Procedure 

To-day  I  must  limit  my  talk  to  the  investigation  I  made  of  the 
girls'  schools.  I  started  in  this  way.  I  took  the  names  of  all  the 
graduates  of  191 1.  I  must  locate  them — How  many  went  to  high  school  ? 
How  many  went  to  work?  How  many  stayed  in  school?  How  many 
finished  their  first  year?  There  were  172  graduates  between  the 
two  schools.  loi  in  the  English  speaking  district — I  call  it  so  to 
distinguish  it — and  71  in  the  non-English  speaking  district.  I  also 
took  the  names  of  all  those  who  went  to  work  from  these  same  dis- 
tricts during  the  year,  from  September,  191 1,  to  June,  1912.  The 
number  of  those  in  the  English  speaking  district,  fourteen  years  of 
age  or  over,  who  were  discharged  during  the  year  was  54 ;  in  the  non- 
English  speaking  districts,  105.  Now,  of  these,  some,  it  was  found  on 
investigation,  were  not  discharged  to  go  to  work,  but  because  they 
v'ere  leaving  the  city,  or  the  state ;  some  were  staying  at  home  because 
of  poor  health.  About  loi  of  these  children  who  left  school  before 
graduation  really  went  to  work.  The  total  of  girls'  names  given  m^e 
was  351.     Cases  that  were  studied  numbered  271. 

I  want  to  answer  briefly  the  questions  the  School  Committee 
expected  me  to  answer  when  I  made  the  survey.  I  went  to  the 
fchools,  I  got  all  the  information  I  possibly  could  get  there  about  a 
given  girl.  Having  acquired  this  I  went  to  the  home,  and  I  was  spe- 
cially fortunate  in  going  into  the  homes  in  the  non-English  speaking 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  15? 

district  because  I  spoke  the  language  of  the  people.  I  may  not  have 
spoken  it  perfectly,  but  I  spoke  it  fluently,  much  better  sometimes  than 
the  people  with  whom  I  was  visiting.  I  knew  their  habits,  and  their 
general  viewpoints.  I  made  my  calls,  not  the  official  calls  of  a 
teacher,  but  the  friendly  calls  of  a  teacher  of  the  school  coming  to 
talk  over  the  problems  of  the  girl  of  that  particular  family,  who  had 
gone  on  to  high  school  or  who  had  not  gone  on  to  school  but  had 
left  school  to  go  to  work;  also  I  made  it  clear  to  the  parents  that  I 
was  coming  to  give  them  a  chance  to  tell  the  School  Committee  through 
me,  what  the  problem  was  that  troubled  them  most  with  these  girls, 
and  to  make  any  comments  or  suggestions  they  might  desire. 

The  response  of  the  parents  was  cordial.  It  was  said  in  our 
city  by  some:  "You  will  never  get  what  you  want  in  answer  to  your 
questions.  They  will  needs  be  too  persorial.  The  people  will  resent 
it,  and  feel  you  are  intruding,  and  particularly  these  children  you  are 
going  to  study,  these  graduates  who  have  gone  to  school  will  feel  so. 
They  are  independent  of  you  and  of  the  school,  and  neither  they  nor 
their  parents  will  answer."  On  the  contrary,  I  found  in  every  single 
rase  that  the  parents  responded,  and  responded  splendidly.  You  will  be 
amazed  when  I  say  a  little  later  how  great  was  the  enthusiasm  I  found 
in  the  parents'  conversations. 

Reasons  for  Leaving  School 

Now,  as  to  the  reasons  why  the  girls  left  school.  I  found,  making 
all  possible  allowances  from  my  observations,  that  not  quite  one-third 
could  be  reasonably  said  to  have  left  school  because  of  the  poor  finan- 
( ial  condition  of  the  family,  and  that  is  making  the  proportion  as 
high  as  I  can  possibly  make  it — not  one-third.  Of  another  third, 
the  reason  for  leaving  school  was  expressed  in  this  way — "It  was 
not  necessary  that  the  girl  leave  school  but  what  was  the  use  of 
going  on?  She  did  not  care  for  school,  and  what  was  the  use?  What 
could  she  do  if  she  remained  a  year  more  that  she  can't  do  now?" 
Or,  in  case  the  girl  didn't  stay  to  graduate, — "Well,  such  and  such 
a  girl  graduated  last  year.  She  is  working  side  by  side  with  miy 
girl.     Why  should  she  have  stayed?     Better  that  she  went  to  work." 

I  found  criticism  of  the  school  course  of  study.  Mothers  and 
fathers  often  said,  "Well,  my  girl  had  to  go  to  school  until  she  was 
fourteen  years  but  after  that  I  could  not  make  her  go.  She  can't 
spell,  she  can't  write  well,  she  can't  do  anything  in  the  way  of  helping 
us,  in  the  way  we  want  to  be  helped."  "Just  what  do  you  want  her 
to  do  that  she  cannot  do?'*  was  my  query.  "Well,"  many  would 
^ay,  especially  in  the  immigrant  section,  "I  can't  write  the  sort  of 
letter  I  wish;  I  want  her  to  do  it,  but  she  makes  a  mess  of  it.     Her 


158  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

letters  give  ofifense;  at  least,  of  this  I  am  sure, — they  have  never 
brought  results.  As  to  arithmetic,  she  can  do  nothing."  "Well,  now," 
T  repeatedly  said,  "for  example,  just  where  has  she  failed  with  you?" 
"^^^ell,  we  buy  furniture  on  the  installment  plan;  we  have  all  the 
children  insured ;  we  need  to  keep  the  accounts  of  the  insurance  agents, 
and  sometimes  the  accounts  of  the  store,  but  we  do  not  know  always 
that  our  accounts  are  right.  Our  girl  gives  us  the  results  and  we  go 
to  the  store,  and  we  are  made  ridiculous ;  our  accounts  are  not  accur- 
ate. Now  here  are  two  vital  things  that  we  want.  We  don't  get 
them.  What  is  the  matter  with  your  schools?  What  inducements 
have  we  to  keep  the  girl  longer  in  school?" 

The  chief  reason  seems  to  resolve  itself  into  this:  The  child 
was  not  satisfied  with  school  or  disliked  school  and  as  a  result  she  was 
not  succeeding  very  well,  and  she  wanted  to  go  out  to  try  a  new  field ; 
or  the  parents  were  not  satisfied  for  the  reasons  I  have  told  you  above 
and  they  reasoned:  "Fourteen  years  of  age, — that  is  about  time  for  a 
girl  who  is  not  thinking  about  going  into  a  profession  to  think  about 
working  to  support  herself ;  at  least  she  can  clothe  herself." 

Another  comment  frequently  made  on  the  elementary  school  in- 
?truction  was  this.  A  mother  would  say  "You  teach  sewing  in  your 
schools.  My  girl  comes  home  with  well-made  garments,  hut  I  know 
she  can't  make  garments  like  that  by  herself.  The  teacher  must  have 
stood  at  her  elbow  a  deal  of  the  time  she  was  at  work.  I  can  go 
uptown,  I  can  buy  a  pattern,  I  can  give  it  to  her,  but  I  know  she 
cannot  use  it."  One  women  said :  "I  have  to  clothe  my  little  ones 
m  the  Five-and-Ten-Cent  store,  because  my  girl  has  no  ability  to 
make  their  clothes."  The  daughter  I  was  investigating  was  not  quite 
fifteen  years  of  age.  She  was  the  eldest  of  ten  children,  all  living. 
These  criticisms  were  practical  and  definite.  So  much  for  the  stand- 
ard of  the  family  as  to  the  reason  why  the  children  did  not  stay  in 
school. 

You  would  like  to  ask  me.  perhaps,  what  proportion  of  these 
girls  did  feel  satisfied  with  school,  did  go  right  on  to  high  school, 
and  did  remain  in  the  high  schools.  Of  the  172  graduates  of  the 
English  speaking  schools  66%  entered  high  school,  and  57%  finished 
that  year.  In  the  non-English  speaking  district,  57%  entered  and 
44%  finished.  Now,  that  is  rather  a  large  proportion  that  continued 
in  school,  but  what  I  have  been  saying  a  moment  ago  refers  to  the 
girls  who  graduated  and  w-ent  to  work,  and  to  girls  who  did  not 
graduate,  but  left  school  in  the  grades  and  went  to  work. 

Retardation 
So  much  as  to  reasons  for  leaving  school.    I  would  like  to  inter- 
ject something  here, — that  is,  in  regard  to  the  grades  in  which  the  girls 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  159 

who  did  not  graduate  left  school.  I  found  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
girls  who  were  leaving  school  at  fourteen  years  of  age  were  in  the 
fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  grades.  We  have  eight  grades  in  Boston 
which  means,  therefore,  that  two  or  three  years  before  graduation 
the  girls  had  attained  the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  had  left  school 
to  go  to  work.  There  is  no  incentive  in  all  the  world  which  will 
make  a  girl  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  finds  herself  in  the  fifth 
grade,  wish  to  go  on  to  school,  unless  she  has  some  kind  of  an 
aptitude  for  industrial  work,  and  there  is  some  form  of  pre-vocational 
work  in  the  school.  You  may  induce  her,  then,  to  see  that  while 
she  is  not  all  that  she  may  desire  in  certain  subjects  that  are  abso- 
lutely fixed  in  the  curriculum,  she  may  be  a  success  in  these  other 
vocational  or  industrial  subjects.  That  is  the  only  possible  way  you 
can  keep  such  girls  in  school. 

Now  you  say,  why  are  these  girls  at  fourteen  in  the  fourth,  fifth 
and  sixth  grades?  There  are  two  different  reasons.  Girls  that  come 
from  foreign  countries,  not  speaking  English,  often  enter  school 
much  in  advance  of  the  ordinary  age  for  school  entrance.  You  will 
also  find  that  there  is  considerable  retardation  in  the  lower  grades. 

There  is,  however,  a  more  serious  form  of  mental  retardation.  A 
child  may  be  passed  every  year  to  the  next  higher  grade,  but  that  child 
is  retarded  nevertheless,  because  she  has  never  come  up  to  the  standard 
of  achievement  set  for  a  given  grade.  She  has  never  had  a  passing  per 
cent,  in  certain  subjects,  but  has  had  more  than  a  passing  mark  in 
others,  which  has  allowed  her  to  go  from  grade  to  grade,  and  she 
arrives  at  the  graduating  grade  with  almost  a  failure  mark  in  what 
is  generally  called  the  essential  studies — arithmetic,  not  mathematics — 
just  simply  arithmetic  to  fractions,  and  English.  She  has  come  up 
to  the  graduation  grade  and  has  received  a  diploma  because  she 
has  done  well  in  certain  subjects  that  are  desirable,  but  not  absolutely 
necessary.  This  is  what  I  call  the  most  serious  kind  of  retardation — 
passing  from  grade  to  grade,  never  having  achieved  a  satisfactory 
mark  in  some  of  the  essential  studies,  nevertheless  getting  a  diploma 
and  giving  both  high  school  teachers  and  reliable  employers  ample 
opportunity  for  complaint. 

Lndustries 

Something  about  the  industries  into  which  the  girls  entered: 
There  was  absolutely  no  difference  between  the  industries  into  which 
the  graduates  entered  and  those  into  which  the  non-graduates  entered. 
The  shoe  factory,  which  was  a  local  industry;  the  carpet  factory,  which 
was  another  local  industry,  were  the  chief  industries  into  which  the 
girls  of  the  uptown  district  entered.     In  the  downtown  district,  among 


160  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

the   non-English   speaking  element,   the  candy   factory,   dress-making 
and  tailor  shops  were  the  chief  industries. 

Wages 

As  to  the  wage,  the  average  initial  wage  of  the  graduates  of 
the  English  speaking  district  was  $3.48.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
averaging  again  the  wage  with  the  various  changes  that  had  been 
made  by  these  various  girls,  the  sum  was  $4.22.  For  the  non- 
graduates  of  the  English  speaking  classes  $3.51  as  against  $3.48  for  the 
graduates,  was  the  average  initial  wage.  The  average  wage  at  the 
end  of  the  year  for  the  non-graduates  in  the  English  speaking  dis- 
tricts was  $4.10. 

In  the  non-English  speaking  district  the  average  initial  wage 
of  the  graduates  was  $3.26.  The  ultimate  wage  at  the  end  of  the 
year  of  the  graduates  of  this  ?chool  was  $3.97,  of  the  non-graduates 
the  initial  average  wage  was  .$3.14  and  the  ultimate  average  wage 
was  $3.61.  You  will  see  the  the  wage  was  not  enough  to  off-set  any 
great  financial  distress  in  the  family,  because  suitable  feeding  and 
clothing  of  the  girl  are  extra  expenditures,  likewise  carfare  that  some 
of  the  girls  had  to  pay  to  get  to  the  places  where  they  were  employed. 
so  the  net  amount  received  by  the  family  was  not  great.  I  am  quite 
enthusiastic  over  this  investigation.  I  feel  that  I  came  into  the 
closest  kind  of  touch  with  the  homes,  and  the  closest  kind  of  touch 
with  the  school,  and  realize  the  absolute  necessity  of  real  co-operation 
and  close  personal  contact  between  the  school  and  home. 

Deductions  and  Recommendations 

Now,  what  are  some  of  the  deductions  I  made  as  a  result  of 
this  investigation?  Whether  a  girl  graduates  from  the  elementary 
school  or  leaves  in  the  grade,  unless  there  is  some  pre-vocational 
v-'ork  in  the  school  system,  her  opportunity  in  industry  is  the  same; 
her  opportunity  is  limited  to  the  blind  alley  occupations  in  a  great 
measure. 

The  elementary  schools  handle  in  childhood  the  great  bulk  of 
the  people  who  never  get  any  other  education  and  these  people  are 
going  to  make  or  unmake  the  country.  What  can  our  public  schools 
give  them  as  they  are  organized  to-day?  Only  admission — graduate 
cr  non-graduate — into  the  non-skilled  industries,  creating  the  large 
c'ass  of  people  who  will  always  be  what  may  be  called  casual  workers, 
doing  work  when  they  can  get  it,  and  doing  without  it  when  they  can- 
i;ot.  How  can  this  be  offset?  Information  such  as  our  vocational 
counsellors  have  been  giving  and,  as  I  hope,  may  give  more  com- 
pletely and  thoroughly,  will  help  solve  the  problem.  The  time  given  at 
present  to  the  vocational  counsellor's  work  in  Boston  is  largely  the 


VOCATIONAL    DIRFXTION  161 

time  before  or  after  school,  or  at  some  period  of  time  directly  before 
graduation.  I  am  hopeful-  it  is  one  of  my  recommendations — that 
this  information  that  the  vocational  counsellors  have  to  impart,  first, 
as  to  the  vocations  open  to  men  and  women  in  Boston  and  vicinity; 
second,  as  to  the  vocational  opportunities  for  training  throughout  the 
city,  shall  be  thoroughly  explained  to  the  children  and  to  the  parents. 
We  cannot  do  much  with  a  child  if  the  parents  object,  and  we  cannot 
do  much  with  the  parents,  through  the  child.  Unless  we  are  in  close 
familiar  confidential  touch  with  the  family,  which  means,  if  we  are 
going  to  do  something  serious,  something  beyond  giving  printed  infor- 
mation and  material,  we  must  have  some  one,  other  than  a  grade 
teacher  who  will  go  into  the  home,  and  enter  into  close,  intimate  touch 
with  the  family ;  someone  who  will  inspire  the  family  with  the  thoughts 
that  the  school  is  desirous  of  doing  something  to  help  the  child  in 
licr  life  w^ork,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  parents. 

l^ocalional  Guidance  Defined 

My  own  definition  of  Vocational  Guidance  in  my  report  was 
this :  The  adjustment  of  the  educational,  occupational  and  recrea- 
tional life  of  the  child  by  the  school,  in  co-operation  with  the  home. 

Problem  of  Recreation  of  Child  IVac/e  Earner 

Now  I  have  come  to  a  phase  that  I  have  found  one  of  the  most 
interesting  phases  of  the  whole  investigation,  and  that  is  the  question 
cf  recreation.  Would  you  believe  it,  when  I  went  into  the  homes  to 
talk  to  the  mothers,  I  didn't  find  when  I  told  them  what  my  errand 
was  this  question:  "Can  you  get  her  a  better  job  or  more  pay?'' 
Not  a  bit  of  it.  This  was  what  was  said:  "My  girl  is  working;  she 
is  working  in  such  and  such  a  place.  She  wants  to  work;  she  is 
more  or  less  satisfied  at  present.  My  great  problem  is :  What  am  T  going 
to  do  with  this  girl  as  to  recreation?  She  has  made  new  friends.  She 
is  only  two  months  or  six  months  older  that  she  was  when  she  gradu- 
ated and  went  to  work.  Then  she  went  to  school  at  nine  o'clock  and 
was  home  at  the  close  of  school.  When  she  was  out,  I  knew  she  was 
in  the  neighborhood.  T  knew  with  whom  she  was,  but  to-day  all  is 
different.  The  girl  needs  recreation,  more  than  ever.  Rest  in  her 
home  she  does  not  want.  She  wants  recreation.  She  has  a  right  to 
it.  How  much  can  I  give  her?  How  much  can  T  hold  back?  What 
can  I  recommend?  What  do  I  know  of  the  places  where  it  is  proper 
for  her  to  go?  What  does  her  father  know? — less  than  T.  He  is 
afraid;  he  is  too  severe;  he  is  afraid  that  she  should  be  out  at  all." 
Mothers  told  me  cases  where  the  father  was  so  severe  the  girl  could 
not  go  to  any  place  in  the  evening.     The  girl  was  bound  to  go  with 


162  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

the  other  girls  and  consequently  she  took  afternoons  off,  or  hours  o'ff, 
and  tried  in  one  way  or  another  to  deceive  the  parents  as  to  the  amount 
of  money  she  was  earning.  If  it  were  piece  work  this  was  easy.  It 
didn't  take  a  great  deal  of  money  to  go  to  a  moving  picture  show  or 
some  of  the  cheap  theatres.  This  was  the  cry  that  I  got  from  the 
mothers  continually.  "Tell  us  what  to  do.  That  is  a  problem  for  you 
people  now.  If  yon  are  going  to  consider  this  subject  at  all,  consider 
this  feature  of  it.  Can't  you  do  something?  Put  us  in  touch  with 
some  place  to  which  the  girls  can  go  for  recreation.  Don't  suggest 
Sunday  School  entertainments  only,  girls  won't  go."  Many  parents 
told  me  that  the  girls  have  discounted  parental  control ;  if  not  parental 
control,  at  least  parental  suggestions;  that  they  have  come  in  touch 
with  the  girls  in  the  shops  that  are  not  of  the  district  but  live  in 
other  districts,  and  have  other  ideas,  view  points  and  fads,  that  they 
have  come  into  touch  with  women  as  well  as  with  girls  of  their  age. 
The  girls  are  floundering,  and  the  parents  are  floundering.  If  the 
girls  are  held  too  tight  they  will  absolutely  rebel.  Over  and  over 
rigain  it  was  said  to  me:  "What  are  you  going  to  do  about  the  recre- 
ation problem?" 

Conclusion 
In  conclusion.  If  we  are  going  to  take  up  the  subject  of  voca- 
tional guidance  in  the  elementary  school,  we  have  got  to  have  the 
vocational  instruction,  which  shows  which  are  the  desirable  vocations 
open  to  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women,  outside  of  the  blind  alley 
industries.  The  fact  that  these  are  not  open  to  boys  and  girls  at 
fourteen  years  of  age ;  the  fact  that  they  are  not  open  to  boys  and 
girls  without  special  training;  the  fact  that  it  is  necessary  for  boys 
and  girls  to  go  to  high  school  or  vocational  schools.  All  these  things 
have  to  be  taught  not  only  to  the  boys  and  girls  but  to  their  parents; 
also  information  as  to  these  special  schools  where  this  training  can 
be  received  should  be  given  so  that  it  can  be  absorbed  by  the  boys 
and  girls  and  the  parents.  They  won't  attempt  to  absorb  all  the 
information  w-e  can  give.  They  will  try  to  absorb  something  about 
the  special  school  which  deals  with  the  industry  or  vocation  in  which 
they  are  interested.  My  final  recommendation  would  be  this,  if  we 
are  going  to  put  vocational  guidance  in  the  elementary  schools  the  chief 
thing  we  can  do,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  continue  this  instruction ;  make 
it  more  intensive ;  have  time  for  it  in  the  school  curriculum ;  have  it 
a  regular  course  just  as  much  as  we  have  English  or  Arithmetic; 
have  the  course  given  to  the  graduating  class ;  permit  the  girls  thirteen 
years  of  age  and  over,  in  whatever  grade  they  find  themselves,  to 
come  to  these  courses ;  their  parents,  too,  for  they  need  instruction 
even  more  than  the  children  do  along  these  lines. 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  163 

Another  thing,  we  must  have  home-  and  school-workers.  We 
can't  expect  grade  teachers  to  do  very  much  outside  of  the  class 
room,  we  must  not  put  the  responsibihty  of  bringing  the  school  in 
touch  with  the  home  on  the  teachers.  The  school  and  home-worker 
must  be  the  link  between  the  home  and  the  school.  She  can  also 
investigate  the  industries  so  that  the  school  wall  have  up-to-date  infor- 
mation. It  does  seem  that  such  a  worker  should  not  only  get  in 
touch  with  the  pupil  in  the  school  and  in  the  home,  but  also  in  the 
social  and  recreational  centers  of  the  localities.  One  can  keep  m 
touch  with  these  girls  more  there  than  almost  anywhere  else.  The 
girls  will  come  to  a  recreation  centre  provided  they  get  the  kind  of 
amusements  they  want.  If  the  kind  of  recreation  given  is  stultified 
they  won't  come.  This  is  one  of  the  features  that  calls  for  very 
careful  consideration.  How  can  wc  use  the  recreational  centres  of 
the  city  to  keep  a  hold  on  the  girls? 

^^ocational  instruction,  vocational  training,  vocational  guidance 
for  boys  and  girls  in  the  elementary  schools,  as  well  as  in  the  schools 
of  higher  education,  is  a  bona  fide  need.  How  shall  it  be  conducted 
5n  practical  form,  is  our  problem  and  it  is  toward  the  solution  of  this 
problem  that  we  must  all  contribute  according  to  our  experience  and 
according  to  our  most  careful  judgment. 


SUMMARY 

Dr.  \\'illiam  Wiener 
Principal,   Central  High  School,  Newark,   N.  j. 

I  think  we  all  of  us  have  been  very  much  interested  in  what  has 
been  placed  before  us  to-day.  I,  for  one,  have  been  much  interested, 
perhaps  for  two  reasons;  not  only  the  reason  that  I  have  charge 
of  a  little  school  of  1,300  individuals  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  one  that  has 
just  started  on  its  career — started  last  February — but  also  because 
for  the  last  twenty  years  I  have  been  associated  with  the  education 
of  Newark  and  have  been  connected  with  its  industries — and  that 
on  a  very  large  scale.  For  at  least  three  or  four  years  before  taking 
up  school  work  I  had  direct  charge  of  several  industries,  both  as 
manufacturer  and  as  general  manager,  and  since  that  time  have 
continued  my  connection  with  these  industries.  I  feel,  therefore,  that 
during  all  this  educational  work  I  have  had  a  double  opportunity  to 
be  helpful,  because  I  am  able  to  see  things  from  the  business  man's 
point  of  view,  and  also  fortunately,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  suc- 
cess that  has  come  in  the  educational  line  there  in  Newark.     I  think 


164  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

we  have  now  reached  that  point — ^judging  from  what  has  been  given 
to-day  and  in  the  conventions  of  this  session,  and  several  others  that 
I  have  had  the  opportunity  to  attend — where  we  are  now  shaking 
off  that  collar  or  that  bondage  which  has  in  the  past  led  the  schoolr 
lo  produce  a  sort  of  collar-and-cuff  aristocracy.  We  have  been 
producing,  in  other  words,  a  type  of  individual — particularly 
in  our  high  schools— a  type  of  individual  that  has  in  the  past, 
because  of  the  character  of  the  education,  only  been  drawn 
into  certain  limited  lines  of  work,  through  either  a  misunder- 
«;tanding  as  to  what  the  possible  opportunities  of  the  child  or 
mdividual  were,  or  perhaps  because  of — well,  shall  we  say  traditional 
direction — which  had  guided  the  child  to  simply  take  such  courses, 
follow  set  syllabi,  and  simply  do  things  because  boards  of  education 
or  school  boards  or  school  officials  have  set  such  limits.  I  am  glad 
to  note  that  we  are  about  to  develop  no  longer  this  so-called  collar-and- 
cuff  aristocracy,  which  will  not  soil  its  hands,  which  will  not  do  things 
or  engage  in  the  service  of  the  world,  but  now  reserve  the  function 
of  the  school  namely  to  make  a  "shirt-sleeve"  democracy.  And  we 
cire  all  of  us  very  much  awake  to  that  situation,  as.  of  course,  has  been 
evidenced  by  what  has  been  given.  That  all  education  should  be 
vocational  as  Mr.  Davis  has  so  splendidly  shown  is,  of  course,  I  think 
the  purpose  of  life.  We  have  always  said  that  education  should  pre- 
pare for  life.  This  idea  of  stopping  the  drifting  by  motivation,  has 
been  by  Mr.  Davis  accurately  defined,  and  shown  as  perhaps  one  of 
the  means  which  might  be  employed  through  the  correlation  of  the 
school  work  with  the  world  task,  and  through  the  utilization  of  the 
school  for  preparing  and  developing  a  view-point  of  what  the  child 
is  to  meet  when  it  goes  into  life.  I  think  that  this  has  been  so 
thoroughly  explained  that  it  only  needs  passing  reference.  In  other 
words,  the  strong  point  that  was  made  by  Mr.  Davis  is  that  all  the 
school  work  should  be  correlated  to  the  world  work.  The  educational 
effort  of  the  child  is  a  very  important  point.  The  hour  being  late,  I 
shall  not  refer  to  his  method,  except  to  say  in  passing  that  it  contains 
extremely  important  thoughtful  matter.  In  all  the  papers  and  discus- 
sions, I  think  that  there  is  one  important  point  that  should  be  noted. 
I  know  w-e  attempt  to  do  it  in  the  little  set  of  1.300  souls  that  come 
to  us — the  point  that  the  school  atmosphere  must  not  be  different 
from  the  world  atmosphere.  In  the  past  the  school  attempted  to 
surround  itself  with  a  sort  of  halo,  to  make  an  artificial  boundary, 
to  generate  artificial  conditions,  such  as  we  perhaps  have  traditionally 
been  imposing  upon  the  school, — but  I  think  I  see  the  dawn  of  the  new 
era,  I  am  sure  that  we  all  do  here.  As  long  as  the  school  will  con- 
tinue its  artificial  atmosphere,  just  so  long  will  the  school  be  a  hindrance 


VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION  165 

U>  its  most  advantageous  purpose  in  the  life  of  the  community  in 
which  the  school  exists. 

I  think  the  point,  as  I  judged  it,  which  was  made  by  most  of 
the  speakers,  was  that  the  school  atmosphere  must  be  the  world  at- 
mosphere, and  that  we  all  must  work  for  that,  so  that  when  the  child 
leaves  us  it  will  be  familiar  with  world  conditions.  The  child  will 
find  it  then  an  advantage  to  remain  with  us  and  seek  an  opportunity 
to  come  to  us  for  counsel,  because  our  opinions  and  those  of  the 
world  will  correspond. 

The  city  of  Pittsburgh,  it  appears  to  me,  is  still  conservatively 
feeling  its  w^ay,  as  the  paper  by  Aliss  McCord  seems  to  indicate.  I 
think  that  we  are  all  doing  the  same. 

?^Iiss  Turner,  of  Erasmus  Hall,  certainly  made  a  most  wonder- 
ful appeal,  first  of  all  stating  the  great  difficulty  of  vocational  guid- 
ance for  the  girls  and  mentioning  to  you  the  natural  conditions 
and  limitations  for  Avoman,  and  of  course,  to  a  certain  extent  the 
"man-made"  environment  for  woman.  The  stimulation  of  self-analysis 
through  successful  women's  inspiration  at  Erasmus  Hall,  that  is,  the 
successful  stimulation  or  perhaps  natural  and  sane  adjustment  as 
carried  out  there,  is  extremely  interesting,  and  may  bring  us  to  some 
very,  very  important  point  of  departure  later. 

The  thoroughly  practical  paper  of  Miss  Colleton,  of  Boston, 
I  acknowledge,  has  certainly  interested  me  for  one,  because  of  the 
study  of  retardation  in  our  city.  Retardation  generally  has,  in  my 
judgment,  depended  upon  two  things.  The  teachers  in  the  past 
have  simply  followed  the  syllabi.  We  teachers  have  been  following 
a  blind  alley  I  judge,  because  we  have  been  following  syllabi. 
Because  the  child  would  not  come  up  to  grade,  as  Miss  Colleton  has 
mentioned,  why  we  were  simply  told  the  child  could  not  move  out 
of  that  rut  or  class.  Hence  retardation.  I  make  the  plea  that  the 
child  who  is  making  a  50%  eflfort  should  be  advanced,  conditionally, 
of  course,  where  the  opportunities  afiford,  and  ffot  retarded  and  kept 
back  to  an  age  at  which  it  means  disgrace  for  a  child  to  stay  in  a 
certain  grade  or  a  certain  class.  When  it  comes  to  retardation  I 
think  the  teacher  has  been  perhaps  of  times  retarded  in  judgment  and 
humanity.  I  make  a  plea  for  those  retarded  pupils  who  have  not 
l.'ad  the  same  opportunities  that  belong  and  should  come  to  each, 
because  in  many  instances  where  opportunity  has  been  given  in  our 
school  during  the  past  year — I  won't  pretend  at  the  present  time  to 
cite  figures — but  within  the  past  year — within  the  past  several  years — 
that  this  subject  has  been  under  study  in  the  city  of  Newark,  some 
remarkable  things  have  occurred,  where  children  whose  abilities  were 


166  VOCATIONAL   DIRECTION 

perhaps  latent  for  a  certain  time  were  roused  to  do  things.  We  arc 
verv  certain  that  retardation  and  defectives  are  oftimes  excuses  for 
teachers'  deficiencies;  at  least,  that  may  be  one  of  the  conclusions.  I 
th-ink  the  plea  that  was  made  for  vocational  and  educational  direction 
and  guidance  by  Miss  Colleton  is  also  a  very  important  matter, 
and  one  that  must  be  considered  as  plans  are  made  in  the  future  for 
continuing  both  the  study  of  this  subject  and  the  advancement  of 
ihe  child,  for  industrial,  for  civic  and  economic  considerations. 


I. 


SESSION     OF     SATURDAY     AFTERNOON,     OCTOBER     26 
At  the  Hall  of  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture 

CONFERENCE    ON    THE    RELATION    OF    VOCATIONAL 
GUIDANCE    TO    THE    EMPLOYER 

Chairman,   Herman   A.   Metz 
Member   Board   of   Education,   New   York 


WHAT    BUSINESS    EXPECTS    OF    THE    SCHOOLS 

Dr.  J.  Franklin  Crowell 
Of  The  Wall   Street  Journal 

Probably  one  of  the  first  things  that  one  might  ask  in  this  con- 
nection is:  "What  does  business  expect  of  the  schools?"  The  size 
of  the  question  itself  it  one  that  appalls  me,  for  when  you  come  to 
look  at  the  figures,  there  are  about  eighteen  millions  of  us  going  to 
school,  and  about  thirty-six  millions  of  us  occupied  in  gainful  occu- 
pations. Now,  what  do  these  thirty-six  millions  of  people  expect  of 
these  eighteen  millions  of  people?  Many  of  them  expect  nothing, 
ji.nd  others  expect  many  things,  and  some  of  them  expect  everything 
from  the  schools.  Probably  the  best  thing  that  is  expected  from  the 
schools  is  what  the  mothers  expect  their  children  to  get,  to  be  reared 
to  live  decent,  respectable,  well-thought  of  lives. 

Rut  that  is  not  exactly  the  viewpoint  from  which  I  have  been 
thinking.  My  impression  is  that,  taking  the  business  world  in  general, 
it  is  not  satisfied  w^ith  the  product  it  is  getting  from  the  schools.  I 
?5ked  a  number  of  people  what  their  viewpoint  is  and  what  they 
think  of  the  matter,  and  they  almost  without  exception  expressed  dis- 
satisfaction. It  is  rather  difficult  and  exceptional  to  find  some  one 
who  expresses  appreciation.  Maybe  that  is  because  of  the  state  of 
mind  into  W'hich  this  generation  has  got.  We  are  all  filled  with  a 
spirit  of  "What's  the  matter  with  Kansas,"  you  know.  We  have  the 
impression  that  the  world  is  wrong.  People  with  whom  I  associate 
i.  good  deal,  who  have  been  across  the  ocean,  think  that  everything 
is  right  in  Europe  and  everything  is  wrong  in  the  United  States. 
People  who  have  had  their  training  in  Europe  often  think  everything 
is  wrong  in  the  United  States  and  everything  is  right  in  Europe. 
Much  depends  upon  the  point  of  view  from  which  you  approach  a 
question.     But  I  dare  say  that  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  the 

167 


U.S  VOCATIONAL    GUIDANCE   AND    THE    EMPLOYER 

schools  is  not  dissatisfaction  with  the  quantity  of  the  output  but 
rather  with  the  quahty.  Somehow  or  other  the  boy  or  girl  who  comes 
from  the  school  to  my  range  of  influence  in  business  life  does  not 
n.easure  up  to  certain  ordinary  requirements.  Every  now  and  then 
I  am  given  a  jolt  which  suggests  to  me  that  things  are  not  as  they 
cught  to  be,  or  rather  as  I  expect  them  to  be.  For  instance,  the  other 
dav  I  was  dictating  an  editorial  on  the  Italian  attack  on  one  of  the 
Greek  islands,  an  island  on  which  tradition  says  Homer  was  born. 
1  used  the  word  Homer.  I  had  spelled  out  all  the  Greek  words 
except  that  one,  and  when  I  came  to  read  over  my  manuscript  the 
^^■ord  Homer  was  spelled  Holimcr.  I  said  to  him,  "Young  man,  you, 
a  high  school  graduate,  don't  know  how  to  spell  the  word  Homer!" 
He  said:  "Isn't  that  the  name  of  a  German  merchant?"  I  felt  then 
that  something  was  neglected,  something  has  been  missed  in  the 
training  of  this  young  man.  I  forgave  him  a  good  deal  because  ne 
is  a  good  shot  on  the  State  militia.  But  he  didn't  get  that  in  the 
public  schools ;  he  got  that  from  his  own  practice. 

Now,  I  submit  that  a  boy  of  eighteen  who  cannot  spell  Homer,  and 
has  had  about  twelve  years  in  the  public  schools,  hasn't  embraced 
his  opportunities,  and  somebody  else  hasn't  embraced  his  opportunity 
to  teach  him  some  of  the  ordinary  things  of  life,  ordinary  things  in 
elementary  education.  I  have  to  spell  out  too  many  words  for  the  boys 
that  come  to  me — too  many  words  altogether  for  my  patience;  and  I 
apprehend  that  there  is  something  lacking  somewhere  in  the  discipline 
v/hich  they  get,  and  that  there  is  not  enough  time  spent  on  those 
fundamentals  which  go  to  make  one  thorough  in  the  simple  things  of 
£n  education.  What  we  need  to  teach,  or  what  we  ask  for,  is  that 
the  boys  and  girls  who  come  to  us,  to  take  part  of  our  burdens  in 
business,  have  instruction  in  the  elementary  English  requirements  of 
an  education;  and  if  they  do  not  have  it,  it  is  the  schools  that  fail 
to  give  it  to  them,  if  they  have  spent  the  time  here. 

Now,  I  am  not  saying  how  you  should  do  it;  I  am  not  defining 
the  form  or  method  or  procedure,  or  anything  about  that.  I  am  simply 
mterested  in  results.  And  I  believe  the  business  world  has  a  right 
to  ask  for  reasonably  complete  and  satisfactory  results  in  the  edu- 
cational process.  So  that  I  believe  the  thing  that  is  needed  more 
than  anything  else  is  plain,  every-day  discipline  in  elementary  studies, 
plain  everyday  discipline.  I  would  let  culture  go,  let  the  cultural  end 
of  training  go;  but  it  ought  to  be  training;  it  ought  to  be  training  in 
precision,  so  that  when  I  ask  a  student  a  question  he  doesn't  spend 
his  time  hesitating  so  as  to  oblige  me  to  say,  "Do  you  know  it  or  do 
you  not  know  it  ?"  That  very  hesitating  attitude  of  mind  shows  that  noc 
enough  test  has  been   applied   in   getting  quick,   prompt   answers   t-j 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND    THE   EMPLOYER  160 

simple  ordinary  questions.  The  mind  has  been  allowed  to  hesitate. 
A  demand  for  a  question,  or  the  answering  of  a  question,  is  like  a 
rommand  of  an  officer,  and  the  pupil  in  the  public  schools  who  is  not 
taught  to  say  yes  or  no  quickly  has  not  been  taught  one  of  the  funda- 
mental requisites  of  success  in  life. 

What  types  of  attainment  are  you  as  teachers  trying  to  turn 
out  of  the  schools  ?  The  answer  to  that  one  rarely  finds  in  any  defin- 
ite form.  Probably  the  most  general  answer  is  that  we  are  trying  to 
train  these  boys  and  girls  so  that  they  may  be  useful  and  respectable 
citizens.  Another  answer  is  that  they  may  discharge  their  duties  as 
men  and  women,  as  fathers  and  mothers,  in  the  organization  and 
development  of  the  home  life.  Another  is  that  they  may  be  suc- 
cessful in  their  pursuits.  Another  is  that  they  may  be  able  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  essentials  of  civilization,  the  things  which  have 
been  cherished  and  brought  down  to  us  and  handed  to  the  succeeding 
generations,  with  a  feeling  that  they  were  worth  preserving  at  a  great 
sacrifice,  and  that  those  who  come  to  them  ought  not  to  fail  to  get 
them  as  a  part  of  their  possessions  in  the  art  of  living. 

But  I  dare  say  that  this  very  movement  of  vocational  guidance 
is  inspired  by  the  desire  to  answer  that  question  of  the  type  of  attain- 
ment which  the  student  ought  to  have  in  order  to  make  connections 
v/ith  the  outside  world.  Because  that,  after  all,  is  the  problem  we  are 
working  at.  One  of  the  greatest  mistakes — crimes,  1  might  almost 
say — is  to  train  a  child  for  a  world  which  does  not  exist  and  never 
will  exist ;  to  give  a  child  that  sort  of  training  and  that  sort  of  impres- 
sion, and  that  sort  of  mental  outfit  which  does  not  find  any  place  to 
lay  hold  of  in  the  outer  world.  That  is  like  putting  them  into  outer 
darkness,  and  many  of  them  act  as  if  they  were  in  outer  darkness,  and 
liad  a  hot  time  of  it  making  connections  and  getting  along  and  suc- 
ceeding. This  type  of  attainments  will  never  be  understood  in  its 
relation  to  the  outside  world,  the  business  world,  until  the  teacher 
comes  out  to  study  that  business  world,  and  until  the  business  man 
goes  into  the  schools  to  understand  the  teachers'  problem  and  view- 
point; and  that,  I  apprehend,  is  the  great  consideration,  the  line  along 
which  this  problem  has  to  be  worked  out.  It  will  be  necessary  to 
enlist  more  of  an  interest  on  the  part  c;f  the  business  world  to  come 
in  and  harness  itself  to  the  educational  problems  of  the  day,  and  for 
the  teacher  -to  come  out  and  get  acquainted,  by  conference  at  the  desk 
of  the  business  man,  to  understand  and  realize  what  it  is  that  is 
wanted  in  this  outside  world.  Then,  and  only  then,  can  the  teacher 
realize  what  the  requisites  of  success  are  on  the  part  of  the  ])upil 
when  he  enters  into  the  outside  world  of  business. 

Now,  that  problem  of  making  things  meet,  dove-tailing  the  edu- 


170  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER 

cational  into  the  vocational,  is  a  big  problem,  a  very  large  one,  and  so 
many-sided  that  it  is  not  to  be  solved  here  in  an  afternoon's  discus- 
sion, by  any  means,  but  the  elements  which  make  to  that  end  are 
the  ones  upon  which  I  should  like  to  speak  this  afternoon. 

I  consider  that,  first  of  all,  the  type  of  attainment  which  is 
most  acceptable  to  the  business  world  is  the  one  that  is  trained  to 
take  commands  and  to  perform  tasks,  and  that  is  just  what  the 
schools  undertake  to  do.  And  the  way  in  which  the  task  is  per- 
formed, the  discipline  under  which  it  is  performed,  and  the  test  of  its 
results  have  to  be  much  the  same  in  the  school  as  they  are  in  the 
business  world ;  or,  to  reverse  that,  the  test  which  the  business  world 
i!.pplies  to  the  employment  of  one  of  its  members  in  an  organization 
or  corporation  is  the  test  which  must  be  applied  in  the  school.  The 
indifference  of  the  eploye  to  his  task  would  result  in  his  discharge, 
because  there  are  plenty  of  others  that  are  waiting,  that  are  willing 
to  do  the  work  fairly,  squarely  and  honestly.  And  the  attitude  of 
the  pupil  must  be  something  of  the  kind.  He  must  be  inspired  to 
take  it  in  that  form,  that  he  either  has  an  opportunity  to  do  his  work, 
or  he  will  lose  the  opportunity  and  some  one  else  will  take  it.  I  like  the 
spirit  of  the  little  boy  of  fourteen,  a  messenger  boy  whom  I  sent 
the  other  day  to  the  Cotton  Exchange  to  get  a  report,  to  make  a 
transcript  of  two  telegrams  which  I  knew  were  there — and  I  was 
careful  to  see  that  he  did  it  right,  because  I  followed  him  up.  I  went 
itfterwards  to  see  whether  he  had  copied  it  correctly — and  when  his 
copy  came  in  and  was  put  out  in  the  periodical  which  we  publich,  I 
knew  that  he  had  done  the  thing  well,  and  he  was  proud  of  the  way 
in  which  he  did  it,  and  so  was  I.  That  insistence  upon  accuracy, 
insistence  upon  carrying  out  a  definite  task  at  the  time  and  place 
assigned  for  it,  is  one  of  the  things  we  must  impress  more  fully 
upon  the  educational  process  than  ever  before,  because  of  the  attitude 
of  business  requirements.    And  that  is  discipline. 

Another  part  of  the  training  which  I  regard  as  important  is 
that  there  should  be  a  certain  quantity  of  useful  knowledge  imparted 
to  every  student  who  expects  to  be  useful  in  business.  And  that 
reed  not  necessarily  be  business  training,  but  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  one's  own  commtmity,  so  that  if  one  is  sent  here  or  there 
or  yonder  he  may  know  something  about  the  means  of  getting  there; 
knowledge  of  transportation  facilities,  knowledge  of  the .  methods 
by  which  things  are  done,  knowledge  of  the  places,  and  knowledge  of 
the  people,  knowledge  of  who  is  proipinent  and  who  is  not,  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  industries  of  the  community. 

I  think  I  read  somewhere  a  statement  which  was  made  by  a 
vocational  guidance  officer  that  the  problem  of  vocational  instruction, 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE    EMPLOYER  17 1 

vocational  education,  was  to  specialize,  to  chart  the  world  of  business, 
and  bring  it  into  the  schools  and  let  pupils  determine  for  themselves, 
or  by  the  advice  they  had  there,  as  to  which  of  these  lines  they  would 
wish  to  enter.  Now,  I  think  that  tliat  is  probably  getting  ahead  of 
the  game,  especially  if  it  is  carried  too  far.  I  would  place  adaptability, 
the  capacity  to  adapt  oneself  to  different  conditions,  far  ahead  of 
specialization  on  the  part  of  any  one  short  of  a  college  graduate. 
I  do  not  myself  believe  in  this  premature  specialization.  I  think  the 
capacity  to  adapt  oneself  to  different  sets  of  conditions  in  dift'eren: 
occupations  is  worth  more  to  the  employing  world  than  the  premature 
knowledge  of  things  that  are  of  no  use,  as  experience  often  demon- 
strates. Now,  other  people  may  not  take  that  view  of  the  matter, 
but  for  myself,  I  ask  for  a  higher  degree  of  adaptability  on  the  part 
of  the  individual  to  the  various  things  that  may  come.  When  he 
comes  to  my  office,  for  instance — or  to  our  office — there  may  be  ten, 
fifteen  or  twenty  dift'erent  things,  to  one  of  which  he  may  be  assigned, 
and  if  he  doesn't  exactly  fit  there  and  doesn't  like  it,  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  others  that  he  can  work  at.  And  the  process  is  to  try  to  give 
that  opportunity,  that  freedom  of  range  within  this  group  of  em- 
ployments or  activities,  by  which  the  best  that  is  in  each  one  will 
be  affiliated  with  the  task  that  he  is  adapted  to. 

And  you  must  allow  business  a  good  deal  of  lea  way  to  specialize. 
The  time  for  specialization  conies  later,  as  a  rule,  and  it  doesn't  seem 
to  me  it  comes  to  the  high  school  pupil.  I  admit  that  there  is  a 
necessity  for  a  great  deal  of  training  in  those  pursuits  like  stenography, 
and  so  forth — accounting,  bookkeeping,  and  the  like — that  those  are 
\  ery  properly  specialized,  and  that  that  is  very  important ;  but  at  the 
same  time  we  must  not  neglect  the  larger  and  more  fundamental 
task  of  training  people  to  adapt  themselves  to  a  variety  and  multi- 
plicity of  situations,  because  that  is  one  of  the  arts  of  youth.  When 
we  get  older  we  are  less  capable  of  doing  it.  When  we  are  young, 
then  the  opportunity  is  presented,  and  we  get  much  more  out  of  it 
than  in  the  later  years,  and  as  we  grow  older  we  get  less  and  less. 

This  conception  of  the  matter,  with  more  of  discipline,  more  of 
useful  knowledge,  more  of  adaptability  to  changing  and  differing  con- 
ditions— these  seem  to  me  to  be  some  of  the  general  requisites  which 
I  should  like  to  see  embodied  in  the  kind  of  training  that  is  brought  to 
m.e,  that  comes  to  me  in  the  person  of  the  boy  or  the  girl  that  comes 
from  school. 

As  for  the  higher  institutions,  the  colleges  and  universities,  it  is 
not  necessary  for  me  to  speak  so  much.  I  take  it  that  you  represent 
largely  the  public  institutions,  and  the  public  institutions  are,  after 
all,  nearer  to  our  heart  than  any  other  class  or  type  of  institution, 


172  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND    THE   EMPLOYER 

and  it  is  to  them  that  I  speak  in  what  I  have  to  say.  I  recognize  that 
you.  as  teachers,  have  had  an  enormous  task,  especially  in  this  city. 
Nobody  lacks  respect,  nobody  shows  any  greater  respect  and  appre- 
ciation for  the  problems  which  lie  before  you,  and  nobody  shows 
any  greater  appreciation  for  the  willingness  of  business  men,  like 
our  presiding  officer,  to  give  time  and  means  and  effort  to  the  pro- 
motion of  the  policy  of  sound  public  education.  And  yet  I  believe 
tliat  we  shall  have  to  come  back  to  strengthen  the  fundamentals  before 
v,-e  get  better  results  of  the  other  specialized  kind.  Maybe  it  is  only 
a  moral  problem,  maybe  it  is  primarily  a  moral  problem,  primarily  a 
cliange  in  the  attitude  of  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  towards  the  business 
world,  primarily  a  change  in  the  appreciation  of  these  general  require- 
ments rather  than  any  special  requirements ;  but  nevertheless,  I  have 
the  impression  that  the  pressure  for  .specialization  has  tended  to  a 
great  extent  to  increase  the  unfitness  rather  than  the  fitness  and 
capacity  of  the  pupil  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  business  world. 

The  two  are  really  not  very  far  apart.  When  I  leave  my  desk 
?nd  go  to  the  lower  east  side  to  address  the  girls  or  boys  on  the 
promotion  days,  or  commencement  days,  I  feel  that  we  are  very  near 
together:  and  when  I  hear  them  perform  their  tasks  it  impresses  me 
that  they  are  doing  very  much  the  same  thing  that  I  am  doing,  in 
very  much  the  same  spirit,  each  trying  to  do  the  best  he  can  in  the 
vocation  which  is  his  or  hers  for  the  time  being.  But  we  have  to 
come  to  a  better  understanding  of  each  other;  we  have  to  come"  to 
the  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  this  business  world  is  a  world  ot 
organization,  and  that  in  that  organization  there  is  no  room  for  any- 
tiody  who  wants  to  turn  the  world  upside  down  in  three  days;  but 
there  is  room  for  many  who  are  willing  to  take  a  little  place,  and 
do  with  their  might  what  their  hands  find  to  do  during  the  business 
hours  of  the  day,  and  to  observe  that  regard  for  themselves  when 
they  are  away  from  business  that  when  they  come  back  they  will  not 
be  too  sleepy  or  too  indifferent  to  perform  the  next  day's  work. 

And  then  again,  I  would  lay  emphasis  upon  some  of  the  funda- 
mentals outside  of  the  business  hours.  The  business  world  suffers 
altogether  too  much  from  the  young  people  having  altogether  too 
many  social  engagements  for  their  mental  and  physical  efficiency 
at  their  tasks.  You  can  pardon  that  once  in  a  while,  but  when  it 
comes  twice  a  week  it  is  a  little  more  than  you  should  expect  of  your- 
self and  pay  wages,  because  there  are  plenty  of  boys  and  girls,  I  takj 
ii,  who  are  willing  to  take  good  care  of  themselves  and  spend  some 
time  at  their  homes,  and  go  to  bed  regularly,  who  want  position*. 
And  the  tolerance  of  the  business  man  is  almost  supernal,  in  some 
respects,  towards  those  who  insist  upon  dragging  themselves  to  their 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER  173 

daily  tasks  at  seventy-five  per  cent.,  or  sixty-five  percent,  of  their 
efficiency.  Now,  if  the  schools  cannot  do  anything  to  change  this, 
I  hope  the  homes  can ;  and  I  bring  it  up  because  I  say  that  the  fourth 
requirement  is  to  give  the  pupil  some  appreciation  of  his  connectional 
relations  to  the  life  in  which  he  lives.  He  is  not  an  A  No.  i  candidate 
for  success  unless  he  respects  and  is  loyal  to  his  home.  He  is  not  an 
A  No.  I  candidate  for  succes  unless  he  is  loyal  to  his  business.  He 
is  not  an  A  No.  i  candidate  for  success  unless  he  is  loyal  to  his 
school  tasks.  He  is  not  an  A  No.  i  candidate  for  succes  unless  he  is 
loyal  and  faithful  to  the  cultural  agencies  of  his  time,  to  his  church, 
and  his  improvement  agencies,  organizations,  and  so  forth ;  and  above 
all,  he  is  no  sort  of  a  candidate  for  success  if  he  is  not  loyal  to  his 
nation  and  to  his  state  and  his  city.  Now,  these  are  the  things  that 
will  make  boys  and  girls  efficient  in  business,  and  I  would  rather  take 
one  with  that  sort  of  qualification  than  any  kind  of  qualification  you 
could  heap  on  to  him  or  try  to  drum  into  him.  because  I  believe  his 
work,  whatever  it  might  be,  would  be  superior  on  account  of  those 
qualities. 

And  that  is  the  sort  of  message  which  I  should  like  to  leave  with 
}ou  as  the  answer  to  the  question:  "What  does  business  expect  of  the 
schools?"  It  expects  discipline  and  thoroughness  and  exactness.  It 
expects  useful  knowledge  as  a  part  of  the  fund  of  effectiveness  in 
the  student.  It  expects  adaptability  to  changing  conditions  and  require- 
ments. It  expects  fidelity  and  loyalty  to  the  organizations,  institutions 
and  conditions  of  his  own  day.  And  with  those,  he  will  be  a  liberally 
educated  boy  or  girl,  even  though  he  leave  school  at  fourteen. 


THE  RELATION  OF  VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE  TO  THE 

EMPLOYER 

A.  Lincoln  Ftlene 

If  this  movement  is  going  on  as  it  ought  to  go,  the  time  has 
come  when  criticism  by  the  business  man  against  the  school,  or  by 
the  school  against  the  business  man,  should  come  to  a  close,  for  we 
all  know  one  thing, — that  we  have  been  very  much  remiss  as  business 
men.  We  have  felt  that  the  work  of  school  teachers  was  something 
cut  of  our  reach  as  business  men,  and  that  it  was  their  business  to  pre- 
pare for  us  boys  and  girls  who  could  come  and  do  what  we  wanted 
them  to  do.  And  so  we  are  all  of  us,  myself  included,  prone  to  find 
fault  with  a  boy  or  girl  who  comes  to  us  and  is  not  able  to  do  what 
our  job,  or  what  we  conceive  to  be  our  job,  calls  of  him  to  do.     Per- 


174  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER 

sonally  I  thought  that  I  realized  this  some  years  ago  when  I  began 
in  know  school  teachers  better,  and  without  any  attempt  at  flattery, 
I  may  say  I  have  learned  more  from  the  school  teachers  than  from 
many  other  sources  of  information  in  the  business  world  that  I  have 
looked  into.  If  you  would  come  into  our  business  I  think  we  could 
sl.ovv  you  evidences  on  all  hands  where  the  advice  of  the  school  teacher 
has  helped  us,  and  we  have  grown  from  a  business  which  ten  years 
ago  was  employing  a  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  people 
to  about  2,500  at  the  present  time. 

Now,  the  school  teacher  is  just  as  prone  to  make  that  criticism 
of  the  business  man  when  he  doesn't  try  to  get  down  into  really  what 
is  the  business  man's  attitude  I  think  the  average  business  man 
would  be  glad  to  help  the  school  by  advice  and  actual  time  given  if 
he  understood  just  where  he  could  come  in.  And  I  think  we  are  fast 
reaching  that  point. 

Another  point  that  I  would  like  to  emphasize  is  that  I  think  by 
actual  test  in  our  business,  of  years  of  employing  college  men,  thai 
the  percentage  of  college  men  who  fail  to  stick  to  the  first  job  that 
they  try  on  leaving  college  is  as  large,  if  not  larger  than  the  boy  who 
hasn't  been  through  college.  And  we  have  employed  college  men  for 
the  last  ten  years,  in  almost  every  department  of  our  business,  and 
to-day  we  have  probably  many  more  college  men  employed  than  any 
like  business  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

With  these  remarks  I  want  to  begin  simply  to  read  what  I  have 
put  down  on  these  cards,  for  I  took  it  for  granted  that  when  I  was 
asked  to  speak  about  the  relation  of  vocational  guidance  to  the  em- 
ployer, what  was  meant  that  I  should  do  was  to  show  the  employer's 
responsibility  and  what  he  could  do  for  this  great  movement.  1  am 
not  going  to  make  a  speech.  I  am  just  going  to  read  these  cards. 
They  may  not  come  as  connectedly  as  they  should,  but  I  think 
perhaps  you  will  get  what  I  am  trying  to  make  clear  as  I  see  it. 

The  school  and  the  employer  must  work  together.  So  far  neither 
the  average  em.ployer  nor  teacher  can  tell  the  other  just  what  can  be 
done  toward  helping  the  child  into  the  work  best  suited  for  him. 

With  vocational  guidance  properly  established  within  our  school 
system  we,  the  employers,  will  be  obliged,  many  of  us  for  the  first 
time,  to  answer  first,  what  are  the  duties  of  the  position;  second, 
what  qualifications  are  necessary;  third,  what  are  the  opportunities 
for  growth.  And  the  school  would  have  to  answer  as  to  whether  the 
fvstem  is  fitting  into  these  needs;  and  when  the  school  and. the  business 
ir.an  get  together  like  this,  the  business  man  will  begin  to  look  upon 
our  educational  svstem  as  something  he  can  understand  and  sympa 
thetically  and  practically  help. 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER  175 

Until  the  employer  can  be  gotten  where  he  will  set  forth  clearly 
the  needs  and  opportunities  of  his  business  it  will  be  impossible  to 
establish  vocational  counsellors  in  our  school  system.  This  movement 
should  not  be  pushed  any  faster  than  the  employer  and  the  schools 
can  work  together  to  accomplish  this  end.  In  other  words,  what  I 
mean  is  that  the  average  employer  cannot  yet  set  down  what  the 
real  needs  of  his  business  are.  When  a  boy  applies  for  a  position 
he  is  usually  told  that  if  he  is  a  good  boy  and  attends  to 
his  business  and  works  hard  that  he  will  be  the  head  of  the  firm  some 
day.  We  deal  mostly  in  generalities,  we  are  not  specific,  except  here 
?nd  there  the  exceptional  employer,  the  employer  who  is  thinking 
along  these  lines. 

We  should  avoid  the  emphasis  on  placement  work  and  think  of 
vocational  guidance  at  this  time  as  a  movement  planned  to  establish 
a  basis  within  the  school  system  for  intelligent  choice  by  the  parent 
and  child  of  vocations  in  life. 

This  is  not  a  movement,  to  my  mind,  to  help  employers  only, 
and  should  not  develop  into  employment  office  work.  Placement, — 
that  is,  scientific  placement — is  bound  to  result  from  this  work  if 
rightly  done.  As  I  said,  this  is  not  a  movement  to  find  places  in  the 
industries  for  boys  and  girls  only,  but  to  lay  down  the  basis  for  intel- 
ligent choice  for  every  individual  boy  or  girl  who  is  going  to  do  some- 
thing, whether  it  be  commercial,  industrial  or  professional. 

This  movement  the  empolyers  can  help  if  they  keep  proper 
lecords,  first  by  standardizing  their  application  blanks,  making  them- 
selves, in  other  words,  say  what  it  is  they  want  the  boy  or  girl  to  answer 
when  they  apply  for  the  job.  Second,  standardizing  blank  showing  the 
efficiency  of  the  employee.  Again,  in  other  words,  take  the  trouble 
to  organize  such  an  employment  office  that  at  least  twice  a  year  each 
individual  is  taken  separately  and  a  set  of  questions  put  up  against 
him  as  to  whether  he  is  growing  in  efficiency,  and  if  not,  why  not. 
Third,  standardizing  record  blank  which  will  show  causes  of  dis- 
charge, why  the  boy  or  girl  failed.  Fourth,  set  down  so  that  every 
employee  can  understand,  a  simi)le  statement  of  the  duties  of  every 
position  and  the  qualifications  necessary  to  fill  the  sam.e,  not  only 
saying  what  the  position  is,  but  the  average  wage  the  position  pays, 
what  the  chance's  for  growth  in  that  position  are,  and  the  possible 
vf^muneration  if  the  boy  or  girl  grows,  and  in  such  a  way  to  turn 
over  this  information  after  it  is  once  gotten  to  the  school  system  for 
their  guidance.  Fifth,  set  down  a  program  for  the  conduct  of  his 
business,  based  upon  its  social  responsibilities  which  I  think  few 
of  us  do.     Sixth,  establish  employment  departments  where  the  man- 


176  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER 

ager  has  not  only  the  intelHgence,  but  also  the  ideals  necessary  to 
insure  his  engaging  his  employes  according  to  the  standards  so  set. 

I  do  not  like  to  be  personal,  but  in  our  business  when  an  employe 
is  discharged  he  is  invariably  considered  for  re-engagement.  We 
take  it  for  granted  that  because  our  employment  manager  happened 
to  engage  a  boy  to  do  certain  specific  work,  it  is  not  necessary  that 
he  was  right  when  he  sized  up  the  boy  or  girl.  And,  therefore,  when 
anybody  is  discharged  we  try,  as  far  as  possible,  and  I  think  we  do  in 
most  cases,  look  upon  him  as  a  new  applicant,  and  see  whether  there 
isn't  somewhere  else  or  something  that  his  efficiency  or  his  ability  has 
developed  during  his  time  with  us,  that  he  might  be  suited  for,  even 
though  he  failed  in  the  particualr  job  which  he  was  doing.  To  my 
mind  no  employment  manager  is  fit  to  hold  his  position  if  he  doesn't 
know  :  ist,  every  function  of  the  business  in  which  he  is  employed;  2nd, 
the  training  necessary  for  each  position ;  3rd,  the  opportunities  for 
growth  from  position  to  position ;  and  4th,  the  purposes  and  aims  of 
the  business  itself. 

How  many  empolyment  managers  would  qualify  as  to  these 
four  points? 

Economic  waste,  due  to  wrong  selection  of  employes,  represents 
to  a  marked  degree  the  difference  between  the  possibility  of  a  fail 
minimum  wage  and  an  underwage,  for  there  is  no  waste  so  great  in 
industry  as  that  due  to  the  abnormal  percentage  of  change  in  the 
working  force.  I  am  fairly  familiar  with  some  of  the  largest  indus- 
tries of  the  country,  and  I  think  those  of  us  who  have  made  any 
s-tudy  of  it  at  all  know  that  the  change  is  almost  unbelievable.  I  know 
one  of  the  very  largest  industrial  plants  in  the  country,  and  one  of 
the  most  successful,  which  changes  four  times  a  year  on  a  payroll  of 
some  five  to  seven  thousand  people.  That  is,  they  have  to  employ  three 
to  hold  one.  And  I  am  told  as  I  go  about  the  country,  as  I  often  do, 
that  this  per  cent  of  change  exists  in  a  great  many  industries  of 
the  country. 

I  believe  it  is  possible  to  lay  down  in  our  school  system  text 
and  reference  books  that  will  give  the  parents  and  the  child  an  intel- 
ligent basis  for  choice  of  vocation,  and  only  when  we  have  such  books 
can  we  hope  to  have  counsellors  to  give  advice  based  upon  facts. 

The  employer  can  make  this  great  movement  possible  f;rpm  his 
side.  First,  when  he  realizes  that  employment  is  just  as  important  a 
thing  for  him  to  study  as  distribution  of  that  which  he  produces. 
Second,'  by  opening  up  his  business  for  the  clearest  investigation  as 
to  the  opportunities  for  the  boys  and  girls  in  it.  Third,  by  realizing 
that  there  is  nothing  more  fundamentally  needed  for  its  success  than 
the  placing  of  employment  on  a  par  with  every  function  in  his  business. 


.  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER  177 

for,  given  the  right  employes,  workig  under  tjie  right  conditions,  the 
success  of  any  business  is  assured. 

Finally,  summing  up  some  of  the  points  which  I  have  brought  out, 
it  is  good  for  the  educator  to  get  the  benefit  of  the  employer's  prac- 
tical view  point.  There  are  elements  of  great  value  in  the  criticism 
of  a  man  of  affairs.  This  criticism,  however,  must  be  fair,  must 
be  based  on  facts.  The  employer  in  order  to  criticize  effectively  ought 
to  be  in  closer  touch  with  schools.  His  criticisms  should  be  construc- 
tive. Vocational  guidance  is  not  only  a  function  of  the  school,  but 
also  of  business  and  industry.  The  boy  and  girl  who  have  been  helped 
to  shape  a  life  career  and  train  for  a  vocation  ought  to  find  in  the 
conditions  of  employment  an  opportunity  to  make  good.  The  em- 
ployer's duty,  therefore,  and  it  is  good  business  too,  is  to  make  sure 
that  those  he  engages  are  qualified  and  permitted  to  make  the  best 
use  of  their  talents  and  capacities. 


SUMMARY 


Meyer  Bloomfield 
Dire.ctor  The  \'ocation  Bureau  of  Boston 

What  is  there  for  one  to  say  after  a  leading  merchant  of  our 
State  of  Massachusetts  tells  us  that  the  employer  has  a  social  respon- 
sibility? That  is  what  vocational  guidance  has  come  about  to  prove. 
Mr.  Filene  tells  us  that  employment  is  as  important  a  problem  to  the 
employer  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  child  as  his  other  departments, 
his  profit-making  departments.  Here  is  an  employer  who  has  more 
than  3,000  people  working  in  his  establishment,  and  he  tells  us  that 
the  industry,  among  other  things,  must  give  the  employee  a  chance  to 
make  good.  That  is  what  the  schools  are  going  to  ask  of  the  employer 
some  day,  because  the  schools  are  going  to  control  the  sources  of  sup- 
ply,  and  they  are  going  to  demand  protection   for  that   investment. 

We  have  heard  all  this  week  a  good  deal  about  the  dropping  out 
from  school,  and  the  social  waste  which  it  entails.  It  is  a  serious 
problem.  But  may  I  venture  to  suggest  that  what  Mr.  Filene  has 
pointed  out  in  the  way  of  turn-over  of  employees,  this  engaging  of  thre? 
in  order  to  hold  one,  that  this  dropping  out  from  the  jobs  is  an  infin- 
itely more  wasteful  and  demoralizing  reflection  upon  society  than 
even  the  dropping  out  of  school.  We  want  this  matter  of  hiring  and 
firing  to  be  taken  out  of  its  capricious,  mischievous,  uncontrolled  de- 
partment,  and  put   in  the  open  daylight  where   the  pul>lic   may   see 


178  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE    EMPLOYER 

whether  they  are  willing  to  continue  the  present  methods  of  engaging 
those  that  we  have  trained  and  guided. 

Now,  this  sounds  as  though  it  comes  alone  from  the  social 
workers,  the  educator's  side.  It  does  not.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
Mr.  Filene,  exceptional  though  you  may  think  that  he  is,  is  not  alone. 
There  are  other  employers  who  see,  both  from  the  point  of  view 
themselves,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  that 
they  must  give  heed  to  this  matter  of  opportunity,  of  growth,  of  social 
service  in  the  employment. 

This  is  not  a  speech  that  I  have  here.  I  happen  to  have  the  sten- 
ographic notes  of  the  last  meeting,  a  week  or  so  ago,  of  the  Boston 
School  Counsellors.  One  hundred  and  twenty  or  so  were  present, 
representing  every  school  in  Boston  and  a  few  outside.  The  discus- 
sion was  on  the  shoe  industry.  We  had  a  business  man  of  the  type 
we  want  to  see  more  of.  The  questions  and  answers  are  here  recorded. 
Ihe  business  man  mentioned  a  State  Board  of  Health  report  which 
has  just  appeared,  dealing  with  tlie  death  rate  in  the  boot  and  shoe 
industry.  Then  he  was  asked  the  question,  "How  about  strain?  Is 
the  shoe  industry  more  strenuous,  more  monotonous,  than  any  other 
industry?"  The  teachers  were  taking  notice,  you  see.  They  wanted 
'o  know  what  to  think,  what  the  facts  were  in  the  shoe  industry.  He 
answered,  "There  is  a  good  deal  of  strain.  I  do  not  think  there  is  as 
much  monotony.  The  work  for  the  men  is  very  hard.  The  women's 
work  is  very  steady,  but  not  so  hard  as  the  men's  work."  And  so  on. 
He  went  into  detail.  We  were  not  through  with  the  shoe  industry  at 
that  meeting.  The  superintendent  of  schools  has  issued  this  notice 
for  the  next  meeting: 

"Meeting  of  vocational  counsellors.  Superintendent's  circular, 
Boston  Public  Schools,  Superintendent's  office.  To  the  Principals  of 
Schools  and  Districts.  A  meeting  of  vocational  counsellors  will  be 
lield  in  the  rooms  of  the  School  Committee,  Mason  Street,  on  Wednes- 
day, October  30th,  at  4  o'clock  P.  M.  Subject:  The  Shoe  and  Leather 
industry.  Second  session — Speakers,  Air.  So-and-So.  Questions  and 
A.nswers  About  the  Shoe  Industry.  Points  in  Training  for  the  Shoe 
Industry,  the  principal  of  the  Boston  Continuation  Schools.  Mr.  John 
F.  ToBiN,  the  president  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Union,  will 
take  charge  of  the  discussion  after  that.  Please  notify  the  counsellor 
in  )^our  district.  They  should  be  dismissed  early  enough  to  reach 
the  place  of  meeting  promptly  at  four  o'clock." 

There  is  a  kind  of  co-operation  we  are  aiming  for  as  between 
employer  and  teacher. 

Now,  it  is  not  enough  for  the  teachers  to  be  sizing  up  the  em- 
l^loyer,   sizing  up  the   industry.     Those   who  engage  your  boys   and 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER  17J 

girls — the  employer  doesn't  know  it ;  it  is  his  subordinate — those  who 
have  that  in  hand  ought  to  know  what  we  are  talking  about.  There- 
fore for  a  year  there  has  been  a  conference  of  employment  managers 
n.ccting  with  us,  discussing  the  kind  of  problems  that  Mr.  Filene 
has  so  well  stated. 

Tlie  employer  who  won't  play  the  game  with  us  on  the  social 
basis,  as  it  should  be  played,  will  probably  not  have  the  employee  some 
day  that  he  wants  to  have.  We  want  to  understand  each  other's  prob- 
lems, and  think  of  one  thing  only,  in  vocational  guidance,  that  what 
i.'-n't  good  for  the  boy  or  the  girl  isn't  good  for  the  school,  nor  f®r 
the  employer;  certainly  not  for  society. 


DISCUSSION 


Mr.  Winthrop  D.  Lane:  May  I  ask  Mr.  Bloomfield  one 
question :  You  read  from  a  circular  about  a  meeting  at  which  em- 
ployers in  the  shoe  industry  came  and  gave  information  about  the 
industry.  At  this  meeting  the  vocational  counsellors,  as  I  understand 
ii,  were  present.  The  vocational  counsellors  in  this  way  obtained 
mformation  about  one  industry  into  which  they  were  guiding  children. 
May  I  ask  Mr.  Bloomfield  whether  it  is  his  opinion  that  informa- 
tion gained  in  this  way,  that  the  amount  of  information  which  those 
counsellors  might  obtain  from  such  a  meeting  is  sufficient  to  enable 
rhem  wisely  to  guide  fourteen-year-old  children  into  the  shoe  industry? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  I  am  very  glad  that  question  is  asked.  No, 
of  course  not,  and  it  is  not  so  understood.  There  isn't  any  mistake 
:n  the  counsellors'  minds  as  to  what  those  meetings  are  for.  They 
are  merely  to  enable  them  to  start  the  intelligent  study  of  such  indus- 
tries as  they  want  to  study  for  themselves.  In  the  first  place,  all 
these  industries  which  are  discussed  are  followed  up  by  booklets  by 
which  we  hope  in  time  to  cover  a  great  many  industries.  Those 
counsellors  are  not  supposed  to  use  that  information  in  sending 
children  anywhere.  The  main  object  of  all  these  meetings  is  to  point 
out  to  these  counsellors  that  the  desirable  employments,  positions, 
all  call  for  educational  preparation,  for  training.  You  see  by  that 
program  how  that  is  brought  out.  There  isn't  any  mistake,  so  far 
a?  we  know — there  ought  not  to  be — in  the  minds  of  those  people 
who  came  to  the  Mason  Street  meetings  as  to  just  what  that  informa- 
1;on  is  worth,  as  to  what  it  ought  to  do  for  the:n.  and  as  to  what  they 
ought  to  do  with  the  material  given  them. 


180  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER 

Mr.  Lane  :  Will  you  state  very  briefly  what  in  your  opinion  ought 
to  be  the  method  of  investigating  an  industry,  how  much  information 
ought  to  be  known  and  what  ought  to  be  gathered?  What  is  the 
maximum  of  information  that  we  ought  to  have? 

Mr,.  Hloomfteld:  There  is  no  maximum.  There  is  a  minimum. 
The  minimum  is  all  the  available  knowledge  that  there  is.  Therefore, 
the  counsellors  are  not  for  a  moment  the  experts,  but  ought  to  be 
the  ones  who  can  intelligently  co-operate  with  people  like  Miss 
CoLLETOx  and  Miss  Wentworth,  who  are  giving  their  entire  time 
in  co-operation  with  agencies  which  are  furnishing  the  kind  of  experi- 
ence needed  to  supplement  their  own.  In  other  words,  the  most 
elaborate  kind  of  co-operation  is  necessary  in  order  that  even  voca- 
tional information,  vocational  suggestion,  even  the  suggestion  for 
further  training,  may  be  given  without  danger,  The  counsellors  who 
come  twice  a  month  are  really  students  of  vocational  guidance  and  not 
guides.  Their  chief  purpose,  is  to  furnish  a  sub-stratum,  an  intelli- 
gent basis  for  the  specialized  work  of  those  on  full  time  who  can  get 
into  the  atmosphere  of  real  investigation,. which  the  average  teacher 
cannot  and  is  never  expected  to  do. 

A  Gentleman  :  Is  not  one  by-product  of  these  gatherings  a  much 
closer  personal  touch  between  employer  and  employe  ?  In  other  words, 
both  sides  learn — learn  to  know  each  other  better,  and  lots  of  facts 
will  come  out  that  otherwise  wouldn't  come  out  at  all. 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  There  is  a  good  deal  in  that.  After  the 
teachers  have  been  through  a  meeting  of  that  sort  I  think  they  are  apt 
to  make  less  of  the  loose,  thoughtless,  conventional  suggestions  that 
you  find  in  the  average  schoolhouse.  Dean  Briggs  once  said  that  the 
chief  object  of  an  education  was  to  teach  a  man  not  to  monkey  with 
a  buzz-saw.  I  think  that  the  teachers  in  Boston  have  learned,  after 
two  years  of  contact  with  these  meetings,  that  vocational  suggestions  in 
a  school  house  is  a  buzz-saw,  and  they  are  learning  not  to  monkey  with 
that  proposition. 

Principal  Theodore  C.  Mitchill:  I  have  been  very  much 
puzzled  with  this  last  remark.  Just  what  do  they  intend  to  accomplish 
by  those  meetings  ? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  The  chief  object  is  to  acquaint  teachers  with 
the  facts  necessary  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  parents  and  the 
children  for  the  further  training  which  is  absolutely  indispensable 
in  order  that  the  children  may  have  any  future  at  all. 

Another  Gentleman:  Will  you  kindly  tell  us  how  these  coun- 
sellors are  appointed  ? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  By  an  order  of  the  School  Board,  the  prin- 
cipals have  been  asked  each  to  designate  some  teacher  to  serve  as  the 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE   EMPLOYER  181 

lepresentative  of  the  scliool  in  order  to  come  and  get  the  information, 
the  training,  the  discussion,  the  point  of  view  which  vocational  guid- 
ance aims  to  give.  In  that  way  every  school  in  Boston  is  represented 
i)y  a  student  of  this  work. 

Same  Gentleman  :  Is  this  counsellor  supposed  to  give  advice 
LO  the  students  ? 

]\Ir.  Bl(K)m field:  The  counsellor  is  supposed  to  use  every  known 
effort  for  helping  those  children  to  go  to  High  School,  and  if  they 
must  go  to  work,  and  that  is  ascertained,  to  help  those  children  with 
v.n  evening  program.  Among  the  by-products  of  this  service  has 
been  not  only  the  willingness  but  the  active  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
teachers  for  legislation  which  make  their  advice  mean  .-something  In 
the  face  of  present  conditions. 

Same  Gentleman  :  Does  the  counsellor  consult  with,  the  parents 
of  any  of  these  children? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:   Yes,  in  every  case.  " 

Miss  Campbell  :  Is  there  any  other  object? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  There  isn't  any  other  object,  but  there  are  indi- 
vidual viewpoints  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  All  over  the  country 
teachers  regard  themselves,  and  some  very  properly  so,  as  the  advisers 
and  vocational  helpers  of  the  children,  and  nothing  in  the  world  can 
persuade  them  that  they  have  not  always  rendered  the  highest  service, 
and  that  they  are  not  equipped  to  render  service  without  any  meetings, 
or  consultations  or  expert  co-operation. 

Miss  Campbell:  The  advice  about  the  occupations  ought  to  be 
given  to  the  children,  if  it  is  to  point  out  that  the  well-paying  jobs  which 
they  know  of  are  likely  to  lead  to  nothing,  and  that  the  jobs  which  pay 
little  as  beginners  require  some  kind  of  preparation,  in  order  that  they 
may  enter  in  a  ]>romising  way. 

Another  Gentleman  :  Do  I  understand  that  no  effort  is  made 
lo  guide  the  child  into  the  individual  occupation  for  which  he  is 
best  fitted? 

Mr.  Bloomfield  :  We  have  done  everything  we  could  to  discour- 
age wholesale  work  of  that  kind  until  such  time  as  we  have  a  definite 
organization,  an  organization  which  will  follow  up  the  result  of  the 
iidvice  given.  We  thought  it  too  dangerous  a  thing  for  teachers,  even 
attending  meetings  or  reading  books,  or  even  training,  to  undertake 
a  wholesale  connection  of  children  with  work  before  we  completed  the 
public  machinery  of  inspection  and  scrutiny  of  every  detail  of  that 
process. 

The  School  Board  at  the  present  time  is  considering  the  machinery 
for  this  purpose,  and  it  is  helped  in  doing  so  by  at  least  three  organ- 


182  VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND   THE    EMPLOYER 

izations  which  have  only  social  aim?.  The  A^ocational  Bureau,  the 
Girls'  Trade  Educational  League  and  the  Women's  Municipal  League. 
1  ought  to  say  too  the  Home  and  School  Association.  There  is  another 
organization  coming  into  the  service  too,  the  Children's  Welfare  League 
of  a  certain  section.  Now,  when  these  all  get  together  and  work  out 
with  the  School  Board  a  system  of  advice,  of  information,  of  guidance 
— and  I  hope  they  will  do  it  soon — then  we  shall  feel  that  the  service 
rendered  to  the  individual  child  is  at  least  done  as  well  as  we  can  with 
our  present  knowledge  and  the  little  technique  that  we  have. 

A  Gentleman  :  I  would  like  to  ask  if  anything  is  done  in  this 
connection  toward  modifying  the  course  of  study? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  That  is  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  School 
Board  in  its  interest  in  vocational  guidance.  I  think  that  it  will  modify 
school  work  to  the  extent  of  enlarging  the  pre-vocational  opportunities 
for  children,  and  by  enlarging  along  the  pre-vocational  lines  it  believes 
that  it  will  reduce  the  number  who  will  want  to  drop  out  of  school 
because  it  will  hold  them  by  these  dilferent  vocational  methods. 

The  Same  Gentleman  :  That  involves  specialization.  I  don't 
suppose  that  sort  of  thing  occurs  in  Boston.  W^e  around  New  York 
hear  a  great  deal  about  the  school  factories.  And  the  reason  is,  of 
course,  that  the  schools  attempt  to  crowd  a  great  deal  into  a  short 
time.  We  are  not  able  to  specialize.  Is  anything  being  done  in  that 
line? 

Mr.  Bloomfield;    That  is  a  pretty  big  problem. 

The  Same  Gentleman  :  Tn  one  of  the  discussions  this  afternoon 
it  was  pointed  out  by  the  same  gentleman,  w^hat  he  considered  the  im- 
portance of  this  psychological  moment  for  the  formation  of  a  definite 
program,  educational,  etc.  In  anything  like  going  behind  the  returns 
the  industrials  themselves  would  thereby  be  very  much  handicapped 
Now,  you  are  at  the  head  and  centre.    What  is  the  prospect? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:   The  prospect  of  what? 

The  Same  Gentleman  :  The  prospect  of  the  reaction  upon  the 
industries.  We  have  heard,  of  course,  from  one  employer  who  is  doing 
that  thing.    LIow  about  the  shoe  line  you  spoke  of? 

Mr.  Bloomfield  :  I  wish  you  could  get  them  to  speak  for  them- 
selves. I  think  the  prospects  in  some  directions  are  excellent.  1 
believe  Mr.  ]\Ietz  probably  endorses  all  that  has  been  said.  I  think 
a  good  many  employers  do.  Some  do  not.  Those  that  want  mere  hands 
haven't  anything  to  do  with  vocational  guidance.  Those  that  are  willing 
to  pay  tiie  price  to  employ  brains  and  souls  as  well  as  hands  have  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  vocational  guidance. 

A  Gentleman  :   You  said  a  wdiile  ago  that  one  of  the  objects  was 


VOCATIONAL   GUIDANCE   AND    THE    EMPLOYER  183 

lo  ^et  information  to  modify  the  line  of  study.  Couldn't  you  detail 
for  us  some  of  the  things  which  have  resulted  from  the  work  thus  far? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  That  is  one  of  the  aims  they  have.  I  think  it 
would  be  a  little  premature  to  do  that.  We  have  only  been  at  it  for 
two  years. 

The  Same  Gentleman  :  Are  those  continuation  schools  that  you 
have  in  Boston — are  they  the  result  of  your  investigations,  or  simply 
duplicating  the  continuation  school  ? 

Mr.  Bloomfield  :  They  were  based  upon  local  investigation. 
They  are  an  expression  of  the  movement  which  for  four  or  five  years 
has  been  agitating  Massachusetts. 

The  Same  Gentleman  :  Have  you  any  information  that  might 
in  the  near  future  affect  the  course  of  study  in  the  Boston  schools? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  We  have  had  a  number  of  conferences  with 
school  people  on  this  matter. 

Mr.  Benjamin  C.  Gruenberg  :  I  would  like  to  ask  a  question. 
In  reply  to  one  of  the  earlier  questions  Mr.  Bloomfield  said  that  the 
children  through  the  vocational  advisers  are  encouraged  to  stay  in 
school.  The  thing  emphasized  is  the  importance  of  more  schooling.  If 
the  courses  in  the  schools  have  not  become  differentiated  (except  quite 
recently  through  the  introduction  of  pre- vocational  schools),  does  not 
that  kind  of  pre-vocational  guidance  mean  for  the  mass  of  children 
simply  more  schooling,  according  to  the  figures  compiled  by  Miss 
Colleton  of  children  graduating  from  the  elementary  schools  into  the 
same  industries  as  those  who  leave  school  after  further  training?  Has 
the  staying  in  school  longer  accomplished  anything?  Does  your  Voca- 
tional Guidance  differentiate  the  work? 

Mr.  Bloomfield:  Certainly.  The  fourteen-year-old  boys  in  the 
.same  district  where  Miss  Colleton  studied  the  girls  are  the  typical 
droppers  out.  Some  backward  boys  two  years  ago  were  given  the 
opportunity  to  go  to  the  nearby  pre-vocational  school.  They  were  per- 
mitted to  leave  their  class-room  where  they  were  always  out  of  place — 
they  were  permitted  to  drop  out,  a  flexible  system  made  for  them. 
They  were  entitled  to  leave  school.  There  were  21  boys  who  got  that 
opportunity.  Those  boys  have  remained  for  two  years.  They  are 
16  now,  one  or  two  of  them  17.  The  public  school  they  attended  could 
not  have  held  them. 


ADDRESSES    DELIVERED    AT    THE    CLOSING    DINNER, 
HOTEL    BREVOORT 

Saturday    Evening,    October    26 

Chairman,  John  Martin 
Member  Board  of  Education,  New  York 

I 

Hon.  Cyrus  C.  Miller 
President   Borough  of  the   Bronx 

I  have  been  asked  to  tell  you  what  the  Board  of  Estimate  will 
do  for  vocational  guidance.  Probably  I  am  not  disclosing  any  state 
secret  when  I  say  to  you  that  the  Board  of  Estimate  as  a  body  is 
entirely  happy  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  existence  of  such  a  thing. 
We  should;  perhaps,  change  the  form  of  the  question  and  ask,  '"What 
has  vocational  guidance  done  that  it  should  demand  attention  from  the 
Board  of  Estimate?"  Like  the  Peri  outside  of  the  gates  of  Paradise, 
trying  to  get  in,  I  have  knocked  on  the  doorway  of  this  subject  for 
several  years,  asking  vainly  of  anybody  who  said  he  knew  anything 
about  it,  what  it  was.  I  think  altogether  the  tally  of  my  questions  of 
the  people  I  have  talked  to,  amounts  to  about  99,  and  I  have  had  99 
different  definitions;  so  I  am  still  in  the  position  of  a  listener  who 
wishes  to  know'.  The  Board  of  Estimate  is  rather  an  unemotional,  cold- 
blooded body  of  men — w^e  are  so  accustomed  to  having  persons  who 
are  trying  to  extract  cucumber  juice  from  moonbeams  coming  to  us 
and  asking  what  the  Board  of  Estimate  will  do  for  the  particular 
project,  that  we  settle  back  in  our  chairs  and  ask  to  be  shown.  I  think 
it  IS  incumbent  upon  those  who  advocate  it  to  show  us  why  we  should 
spend  money  on  it.  It  is  perhaps  a  sordid  way  to  look  at  anything  of 
this  character  to  reduce  it  to  a  money  basis,  but  after  all  that  is  what 
things  must  be  reduced  to,  if  they  are  to  be  lasting. 

One  of  the  first  answers  I  had  to  my  inquiry  as  to  what  voca- 
tional guidance  is,  was  that  ft  w^as  a  scheme  for  getting  jobs  for  boys 
and  girls  who  had  to  get  jobs.  That  didn't  seem  to  me  a  very  satis- 
fying proposition,  so  I  inquired  further,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  that 
there  was  something  more  to  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  vocational 
guidance  is  to  be  a  form  of  conservation  w'hich  is  to  save  our  yottth 
who  must,  because  of  financial  stress,  leave  school  at  an  early  age.  from 
the  waste  which  comes  from  a  child  going  with  incomplete  edtication 

184 


ADDRESSES  185 

and  incomplete  experience,  into  trades  which  are  not  very  gainful, 
where  he  must  knock  around  from  one  to  another  all  his  life,  and  be 
simply  a  floater;  if  vocational  guidance  is  to  take  him  from  that,  con- 
serve his  energies,  show  him  what  he  can  do  best  and  guide  him  to 
it,  then  it  seems  to  me  it  is  worth  spending  money  on.  And  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  simply  to  take  him.  when  he  is  about  to  leave  school 
and  hunt  jobs  for  him.  I  think  that  can  be  done  about  as  well  by  an 
employment  agency  as  by  city  employes.  That  may  be  the  standpoint 
of  an  outsider,  who  is  not  particularly  interested  in  this  subject,  or 
has  other  things  to  think  of.  Interest  in  this  one  is  forced  on  me 
because  those  who  are  favorable  to  it  are  very  forceful  in  their 
advocacy.    Anything  that  is  not  worth  fighting  for,  is  not  worth  having. 

In  Germany  they  have  a  sort  of  paternal  system  whereby  they 
divide  the  children  into  classes  according  to  their  financial  or  social 
standing,  and  shunt  them  ofif  into  one  chute  or  another,  as  may  seem 
the  proper  thing  to  do,  and  the  child,  as  a  rule,  has  to  go  in  that  direc- 
tion.    We  have  no  such  paternal  power  here.     We  have,  however, 

iioiii  of  suggestion,  and  your  scheme,  as  I  understand  it,  is  one 
based  on  the  idea  of  conserving  the  children  according  to  their  talents, 
not  according  to  their  social  standing  or  their  money  outlook.  This 
seems  to  me,  as  I  said  before,  to  be  a  plan  worth  spending  money  on. 
It  seems  to  me  at  present  it  is  somewhat  nebulous  in  its  status ;  I  have 
not  been  able  to  reduce  it  to  any  exact  science.  It  will  be  for  you  to 
do  that,  so  you  can  present  it  as  a  system.  I  understand  that  no  thing 
of  this  kind  can  be  made  hard  and  fast  so  that  all  things  can  be  meas- 
ured b}'  it.  The  majority  of  the  persons  under  treatment  is  all  we 
can  expect  to  serve  with  any  new  plan,  but  it  is  worth  doing  if  it  is 
done  along  the  lines  of  conservation. 

I  do  not  know  that  any  complete  plan  is  advocated.  The  one  that 
I  have  advocated,  it  seems  to.  me,  has  .some  merit,  the  idea  of 
keeping  a  chart  or  history  of  each  child  from  the  time  he  or  she  enters 
school  until  he  or  she  is  about  to  leave,  and  have  these  charts  collated 
by  a  central  body  of  experts  who  make  a  business  of  that,  so  that  when 
the  child  is  able  to  leave  his  life  history,  so  to  speak,  may  be  read  from 
those  charts,  and  at  least  a  line  indicated  by  the  history  of  his  studies 
and  experience  in  school.  You,  who  are  making  a  study  of  this,  will 
know  better  whether  this  is  the  right  way  to  do  it.  But  I  think  that 
there  is  a  germ  worth  while  keeping  in  this  project.  And  if  you  do  it, 
if  you  keep  on  improving  it,  and  get  it  to  a  system  whereby  it  can  be 
presented  to  us,  who,  as  I  said  before,  look  at  a  thing  solely  from  a 
cold-blooded,  money  point  of  view,  I  am  satisfied  you  will  find  that  yoti 
will  not  seek  in  vain.    I  am,  as  one  of  the  Board  of  Estimate,  always 


186  ADDRESSES 

willing  to  spend  money  for  something  that  is  wanted,  and  something 
that  I  think  is  profitable.  I  think  you  will  find  that  that  is  the  attitude 
of  the  other  members  of  the  Board.  If  you  can  do  that,  if  you  think 
it  is  worth  while,  and  will  do  it,  I  think  you  will  find  help  from  all 
of  us. 


II 

Dr.  Edward  L.  Stevens 
Associate   Superintendent   of  Schools,   New  York 

I  have  twice  told  the  story  of  a  boy,  a  boy  of  sixteen  years 
of  age.  There  may  be  some  here  who  have  heard  that  story, 
and  they  will  bear  with  me,  if  I  venture  to  tell  it  again.  This 
boy  lived  in  Denver,  Colorado.  He  had  been  a  truant.  The 
work  of  the  school  was  somewhat  distasteful  to  him.  But  Ben 
LiNDSEY  found  him,  put  him  in  school,  put  him  upon  parole,  watched 
him  and  had  him  report  to  him  from  time  to  time.  The  boy  steadied 
down,  and  his  attendance  was  acceptable  and  satisfactory  to  all 
concerned.  But  one  day  upon  reaching  the  age — the  superior  age 
limit  for  compulsory  attendance — he  left  school.  Some  months  passed, 
£.nd  Judge  Lindsey  met  him  upon  the  street  and  said :  "Jim,  what  is 
the  trouble?  You  have  left  school."  "Yes,  Judge,  I  have."  "What 
is  the  reason?  Why  didn't  you  sta}-  in  school  and  get  an  education, 
go  on  through  the  school  and  finish,  and  go  to  high  school  ?"  "Why,"' 
said  the  boy,  "Judge,  if  I  keep  on  going  to  school,  how  can  I  get  to  oe 
a  plumber's  helper?"  It  appeared  that  the  boy  had  gone  out  and 
obtained  a  job  as  a  plumber's  helper.  The  business  of  plumbing,  I  am 
informed,  is  profitable,  and  we  certainly  must  admit  and  agree,  all 
of  us,  that  we  would  do  very  badly  in  our  cities  and  communities  and 
villages,  if  there  were  no  plumbers.  Therefore  there  must  be  plumbers, 
and  to  be  a  plumber  you  must  first  become  a  plumber's  helper.  This 
boy's  question  was  an  indictment  of  the  public  school  system  of  the 
community  in  which  he  lived.  And  as  far  as  that  question  may  be 
lepeated  in  any  community,  in  any  city,  it  is  an  indictment  of  their 
public  school  system.  In  other  words,  this  boy  realized  vaguely— 
he  might  have  had  somiC  experiential  knowledge,  he  may  have  seen 
other  boys,  or  he  may  have  know^n  of  other  boys,  he  may  have 
guessed  it,  somebody  may  have  told  him, — that  if  he  went  on  in 
school  till  the  age  of  eighteen  he  would  by  that  time,  have  been  diverted 
from  that  particular  kind  of  work  which  he  could  do  and  most  pro- 
fitablv  do. 


ADDRESSES  187 

Now,  my  friends.  I  am  telling  you  a  secret,  a  secret  which  must 
not  be  divulged  outside  of  these  doors.  That  is,  that  as  a  school 
officer,  I  go  to  my  bed  at  night  conscious  of  guilt  when  I  believe  or 
feel,  or  am  persuaded,  that  anything  we  are  doing  in  our  schools 
is  diverting  boys  and  girls  from  profitable  labor;  because  it  has  been 
found  through  the  experience  of  several  centuries,  that  we  must 
work.  Alan  shall  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  all 
generations  that  ha\^e  come  from  Adam  have  discovered  no  way  of 
es'caping,  nor  do  we  want  to  escape,  because  in  this  labor  is  the 
happiness  of  the  human  soul.  And  therefore  it  is  well  that  the  schojl 
officer  who  has  this  child  one-fifth,  one-fourth,  perhaps  one-third  of 
his  waking  day,  should  begin  to  think  a  little  about  what  this  boy 
or  this  girl  wdio  is  given  to  him  to  care  for,  should  do  to  earn  a  living. 

There  is  another  proposition  to  which  I  wish  to  ask  your  atten- 
tion. That  is,  that  the  high  school  is  not  a  school  which  teaches 
algebra  or  Latin  or  mathematics.  It  is  a  school  for  children  of  i 
certain  age.  And  coupled  with  that  is  this :  There  was  once  upon 
a  time  a  man  by  the  name  of  John  Fiske  who  formulated  a  state - 
mient  or  a  proposition  known  as  the  Law  of  Advancing  Period  of 
Infancy.  That  means  what?  It  means  that  the  child  who  used  to 
finish  his  schooling  at  ten  must  now  attend  until  he  is  fourteen,  fifteen 
cr  sixteen.  The  school  age  of  the  child  has  now  grown  into  what? 
Into  the  age  of  adolescence.  And  the  schools  of  which  I  have  just 
spoken,  the  high  schools,  the  secondary  schools,  are  schools,  as  I 
have  said,  not  for  algebra,  nor  for  mathematics,  nor  for  science  of 
one  kind  or  another;  they  are  schools  for  teaching  the  adolescent. 
And  with  this  advancing  period  of  infancy  laws  have  been  formu- 
lated, customs  have  grown,  trade  conditions  have  changed,  so  that 
to-day  the  boy  cannot  leave  school  before  fourteen;  the  emplo3'er 
doesn't  want  him  before  he  is  fourteen.  And  consequently  the  prob- 
lem which  our  friends,  all  of  you  here,  come  to  discuss  is  a  prob- 
lem which  is  particularly  and  peculiarly  one  of  the  secondary  school, 
and  is  one  that  appeals  particularly  and  peculiarly  to  the  secondary 
school  officer,  because  it  is  the  problem  of  the  preparation  of  an 
adolescent  boy  or  girl  to  go  to  work.  For  those  people  who  desire 
to  talk  about  trade  instruction  in  elementary  schools,  I  have  no  time. 
The  period  before  adolescence  is  no  time  in  the  child's  life  to  determine 
what  he  is  to  do,  or  to  prepare  him  for  one  trade  or  another.  This 
problem,  my  friends,  is  a  problem  which  we,  who  have  to  do  with 
the  secondary  schools,  must  face.  If  we  were  all  living  in  towns 
or  villages  of  five,  six  or  eight  or  ten  thousand  people,  it  would  be 
a  very  simple  one.  I  suppose  the  problem  of  vocational  guidance 
in  North  Dakota  is  not  so  difficult.     I  have  an  idea  that  the  problem 


188  ADDRESSES 

of  vocational  guidance  in  Brockton,  Alassachusetts,  where  they  maks 
shoes,  is  not  so  very  difficult.  I  suppose  the  problem  of  vocational 
guidance  in  some  communities  in  Mississippi  or  in  South  Carolina, 
is  not  so  difficult,  where  industries  are  local,  where  industries  are 
characteristic  or  defined  and  determined,  peculiar  to  the  community. 
But  here  in  this  great  city,  we  have  hundred?  of  different  fields  of 
activity  in  w-hich  boys  and  girls  may  be  employed.  And  the  ques- 
tion arises  what  we  shall  do  to  prepare  boys  and  girls  to  enter  these 
fields  of  employment.  And  the  first  definite  proposition,  I  would  state 
to  you,  is  this :  I  don't  know  exactly  what  we  should  do,  but  for 
the  sake  of  these  boys  and  girls  wdio  must  go  to  work,  let  us  nor 
divert  them  from  labor.  Whenever  you  have  led  a  boy  or  girl  to 
select  a  course  of  study  or  to  make  electives  in  a  course  of  study 
which  will  not  function,  or  which  wall  waste  their  time,  or  lead 
them  away  from  the  Avork  which  they  must  do  and  which  they  arc 
obliged  to  undertake,  then  it  is  a  crime. 

What  do  I  mean?  I  must  tell  the  truth  plainly.  If  I  knew  that 
a  boy  must  leave  school  after  two  years  in  the  high  school,  I  would 
not,  under  any  circumstances,  permit  him  to  elect  Latin.  I  mean  that 
if  I  knew  that  a  girl,  after  two  years  in  the  High  School,  must  leave 
and  go  to  work,  I  would  not,  under  any  circumstances,  permit  her 
to  elect  intermediate  or  advanced  algebra.  There  is  where,  my  friends, 
your  vocational  guidance  and  your  vocational  advice  will  begin  to  be 
worth  while.  I  think  that  in  our  schools,  it  is  time  for  us  to  sit  up 
£nd  take  notice.  Take  notice?  Yes.  Of  what?  Of  another  secret. 
Now,  don't  tell  this  outside-  of  that  door.  High  Schools  in  greit 
cities  are  conducted,  or  ought  to  be  conducted  largely  for  the  bene- 
fit of  those  who  can  remain  in  them  only  two  years.  Do  you  under- 
stand me?  In  other  words,  a  properly  conducted  high  school  in  the 
City  of  New  York  has  a  definite  two-year  course.  It  has  a  three-year 
course,  and  a  four-year  course  for  those  who  can  aflford  the  time  and 
have  the  opportunity  to  remain  and  finish. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  that  I  want  to  say,  that  I  do  say 
from  time  to  time.  I  don't  say  them  aloud  very  often,  because  they 
are  heresies,  you  know. 

I  am  admonished,  of  course,  by  your  chairman,  that  speakers 
should  be  brief.  Therefore,  I  have  in  mind  and  sight  the  end  of  the 
remarks  which  I  have.  It  is  my  hope  that  this  work  which  has  been 
begun  in  this  city,  will  continue.  We  are  not  yet  getting  ready  to. 
organize  a  central  bureau.  We  are  not  getting  ready  to  organize  an 
office  clearing  house  for  this  sort  of  work.  We  are  finding  here 
and  there,  in  this  school  and  in  that,  here  a  teacher  and  there  a  teacher, 
one,  two  or  three,  who  have  the  divine  fire,  whose  souls  have  been 


ADDRESSES  189 

touched  and  awakened;  and  in  these  schools  we  are  finding  these 
teachers  who  are  beginning  to  do  this  work.  These  teachers  are, 
through  their  experiments,  through  their  experience,  through  their 
investigations,  through  their  contact  ^ith  pupils,  getting  together  a 
body  of  information ;  and  one  of  these  days  we  will  assemble  this 
body  of  information,  and  we  will  classify  it,  and  discover  some  things 
which  we  may  perhaps  accept  as  fundamental  principles,  principles 
cf  organization.  And  then  we  will  go  out  into  the  field,  out  into  this 
great  city,  and  we  will  find  the  people,  the  industries,  the  interests, 
that  employ  young  men  and  women,  and  we  will  go  to  them  and  we 
will  say,  "We  have  discovered  that  you  need,  so  many  boys,  or  so 
many  girls,  you  need  so  many  employes  each'  year.  We  are  now 
prepared  to  deliver  to  you  so  many  people,  so  many  boys,  so  many 
girls,  properly  tested,  properly  examined,  properly  certificated,  so 
that  there  will  be  no  failures,  or  rather  that  the  number  of  failures 
will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum."  We  w411  haA^e  a  relation  with  uni- 
\ersities  and  with  colleges  by  which  we  will  know  how  to  test  the 
capacities  of  these  young  people.  One  of  these  days  we  will  have 
a  relation  with  universities  and  colleges  such  that  we  will  have  courses 
and  lectures  and  instruction  in  vocational  guidance,  so  that  you  and 
all  of  us,  if  you  are  interested  in  this  great  work,  may  be  able  to 
learn  from  wise  and  able  men  and  women  as  to  what  has  been  found 
here  and  accomplished  elsewhere  and  determined.  And  then  our  work 
will  really  have  been  begun.  The  work  which  has  already  been  done 
is  admirable,  and  I  hope  that  those  who  are  concerned  and  active 
m  it  will  feel  assurance  of  our  good  will  and  of  our  good  wishes. 


Ill 

Meyer  Bloom  field 
Director    The    Vocation    Bureau,    Boston 

The  Board  of  Estimate  shotild  offer  a  prize  to  anybody  that  would 
apprehend  vocational  guidance  and  bring  it  to  the  Board,  dead  or  alive. 
President  Miller  knows  a  good  deal  about  vocational  guidance ;  almost 
more  than  any  who  have  used  that  Bostonese  phrase  for  a  simple  ser- 
vice, when  he  tells  us  that  vocational  guidance  is  not  job  finding.  A 
great  part  of  our  energ}-  is  given  to  explaining  that  job  finding  is 
not  vocational  guidance.  1  herefore,  I  am  extremely  hopeful  for  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  We  haven't  come  to  ask 
him  for  something  which  is  going  to  prove  very  burdensome.  Our 
claim  is  much  more  appealing  than  the  claim  I  saw  by  a  statesman 
five  or  six  weeks  ago,  on  my  way  to  the  Puget  Sound  Indians.    He  wa:-^ 


190  ADDRESSES 

running  for  the  office  of  coroner  in  a  small  town  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  State  of  Washington,  and  I  saw  this  banner  across  the  main 
street :  "\^ote  for  the  real  friend  of  the  i)eople.  He  gave  you  your 
morgue."     Our  claim  is  a  little  more  cheerful,  and  constructive. 

In  the  tirst  place,  may  I  say  for  the  visitors,  like  myself,  all  honor 
to  that  small  band  of  teachers  who  have  broken  out  of  the  straight 
jacket  of  routine  and  professionalism,  and  have  spent  the 
time  and  the  energy  to  make  this  convention  possible.  And 
may  I  say,  further,  all  honor  to  those  big  brothers  and  sisters  in 
Brooklyn,  in  New  York,  who  have  on  their  own  account,  and  in  their 
own  way,  served  in  a  unique  personal  relationship  the  needs  of  their 
children.  We  appreciate  to  the  full  what  they  have,  through  their 
own  initiative  and  expenditure  of  tissue,  done  for  their  children. 

We  cannot  be  satisfied  in  this  day  of  the  job-jungle  with  a  mere 
personal  relationship  of  the  haphazard  sort.  The  children  whom 
you  train  and  guide  have  still  something  before  them  for  whicn 
your  protection,  your  shelter  is  needed.  Needed,  perhaps,  more  than 
ever  outside  of  the  school ;  more  than  in  the  school.  For  a  decade 
practical  men,  employers,  have  asked  the  school  to  make  education 
more  practical,  and  industrial  education  has  come  about,  to  fit  the 
children  for  what  we  call  industry  or  business.  The  schools  have 
fulfilled  but  half  their  function  in  this  answer  to  the  employer.  Unless 
the  schools  turn  around  with  a  social  demand  on  the  employer,  they 
are  not  at  all  sure  that  they  may  not  be  doing  quite  as  much  harm 
both  to  education  and  the  child  as  good.  As  a  friend  of 
vocational  education,  I  am  not  willing  that  there  be  a  one- 
sided bargain  in  the  treatment  of  our  boys  and  girls  If  we 
are  to  fit  our  children  for  the  employments  we  need  an  agency  which 
shall  follow  to  the  last  moment  the  experiences  of  those  children  in 
the  employments.  They  are  to  report  back  not  only  as  to  the  efil;ect1\'e- 
iiess  of  our  training,  but  as  to  the  character  and  the  quality  of  the 
employer  and  the  employment. 

The  time  must  come  ^^■hen  the  schools  wall  demand  a  stoppage 
of  the  human  supply  into  certain  employments.  The  time  will  come 
when  educational  and  social  statesmanship  will  put  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  best  friends  of  the  children,  the  teachers;  put  power 
to  control  the  supply  of  labor  into  industry  and  into  business,  not 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  child,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  employer.  All 
the  inefficiency  is  not  in  the  schools  alone.  There  is  tragic  waste  in 
the  turn-over  of  employes  in  the  average  shop  and  store.  One  instance 
that  I  recently  had  experience  with  was  a  factory  with  10,000  employes, 
employing    10,000  people  each  year.     That   sort  of  thing  is   a  very 


ADDRESSES  191 

serious  matter  to  those  children  who  undergo  this  demoralizing  pro- 
cess, for  most  of  them  were  young  people.  We  must,  for  the  sake 
of  good  business,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  the  community,  take 
observations  of  the  careers  of  our  children  after  they  leave  the  school. 
We  are  asking  for  co-operation  between  the  employer  and  the  school. 
What  kind  of  co-operation?  Is  the  lamb  to  be  swallowed  by  the  lion? 
Js  that  the  kind  of  lying  down  of  the  lion  and  the  lamb  we  want? 
Nothing  of  the  kind.  We  want  a  co-operation  which  looks  to  one 
thing  alone,  the  welfare  of  the  boy  and  girl. 

This  isn't  theory.  Where  it  has  been  tried,  even  in  a  small  way, 
actual  discoveries  have  been  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  employer. 
We  have  in  Boston,  for  example,  told  the  employer  that  he  must  in 
lime  change  the  character,  the  type  of  his  employment  manager. 
He  must  have  a  highly  professional  expert  Avith  power  in  the  employ- 
ment department,  because  that  is  the  man  with  whom  our  children 
first  come  in  contact.  We  cannot  have  the  wrong  kind  of  subordinate 
dealing  with  our  investments  in  human  life.  The  employer  himself  is 
studying  these  matters,  studying  them  in  a  way  that  is  very  novel 
in  this  day  of  scientific  management.  This  week  I  was  in  a  Providence 
factory  where  I  was  given  permission  to  take  away  these  two  moving 
picture  films.  I  found  that  employees  were  studied  by  a  moving  picture 
camera  by  a  set  of  scientific  managing  experts,  who  threw  these  pic- 
tures on  the  screen  afterwards,  in  order  to  study  the  time  and  the 
motions  in  dififerent  processes  in  that  industry.  I  submitted  to  a  mov- 
ing picture  myself,  so  as  to  see  how  it  feels  to  be  trying  to  do  some 
work  with  a  camera  reeling  ofif  films,  while  trying  to  assemble  a  knitting 
machine.  I  didn't  like  the  experience.  That  may  be  the  best  thing 
to  do  for  that  in'dustry,  but  if  our  children  are  to  undergo  tests  of  that 
sort,  we  want  to  have  a  hand  in  the  outcome ;  we  want  to  have  a  hand 
m  their  experiences,  because  they  are  our  children,  not  the  employer's 
children.  They  are  the  community's  workers,  not  the  particular  shop's 
v/orkers.  Therefore,  some  vocational  guidance  agency  must  go  back 
of  this  training,  whether  for  school  or  for  immediate  work;  must  go 
back  of  all  the  employment  experiences  of  the  children,  and  look  to 
what  is  happening.  Astonishing  discoveries  come  as  the  result  of  a 
prolonged  interest  in  the  child. 

Dr.  Devixe  sounded  the  keynote  at  the  opening  meeting  when 
he  said  that  the  school  must  follow  the  child  into  industry.  The  best 
possible  thing  that  can  happen  to  the  employer  is  to  have  that  kind 
of  scrutiny  of  his  processes  and  of  his  environment — the  very  best 
possible  thing.  It  is  a  conservation  movement,  as  President  Miller 
has  well  stated.    It  is  an  anti-waste  movement.  It  is  a  movement  to  see 


192  ADDRESSES 

liow  our  education  can  be  made  more  effective,  more  interesting,  more 
appealing,  more  vital  to  the  child.  It  is  a  movement  to  see  how  indus- 
tiial  working  life  may  be  made  a  more  socially  profitable  proposition 
to  all  concerned.  It  is  a  movement  which  safeguards  the  co-operation 
between  the  employer  and  the  school  which  we  must  have  for  the 
benefit  of  the  reactions  of  each  on  the  other.  It  is  a  .safeguarding 
movement  for  the  child.  Let  us  not  forget  that  vocational  guidance 
is  a  form  of  social  service.  It  owes  its  origin  to  the  social  service 
spirit.  If  it  departs  from  what  the  social  workers  have  gained  after 
a  century  of  sacrifice,  of  pain  and  experience,  it  is  no  longer  a  propo- 
sition that  ought  to  be  supported.  It  is  a  form  of  social  service,  and 
therefore  closely  related  to  the  labor  movement,  the  child  w^elfare  move- 
ments that  are  making  for  standards  of  living  and  civilization.  It  is 
part  and  parcel  of  that  movement  in  life  which  asks  that  even  the 
humblest  mav  find  self-realization  in  his  work. 


IV 

Dr,.    Frederick    C.    Howe 
Director  People's  Institute,  New  York 

I  confess  that  in  matters  of  education  I  am  not  a  reformer, 
but  a  revolutionist.  I  am  a  revolutionist  in  education,  to 
conform  education  to  facts.  I  have  reached  the  conclusion,  after 
.some  experience,  that  the  trouble  with  out  cities  is  not  with  the 
few  men  who  govern  them.  It  is  traceable  to  the  fact  that  our  col- 
lective official  mind  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  revolution  which  has 
taken  place  in  life.  We  haven't  collectively  and  mentally  grown  up 
to  the  fact  that  the  city  has  been  born.  The  same  is  true  in  education. 
Our  collective  official  legislative  mind  is  a  generation  behind  the  prob- 
lems which  we  face.  And  just  as  a  revolution  has  taken  place  in  the 
city,  in  industry,  in  life,  so  I  am  a  revolutionist  in  education,  to  adjust 
education  to  those  changed  conditions.  And  like  many  revolutionists, 
I  have  to  admit  that  I  cannot  yet  build  the  structure,  but  I  would  raze 
much,  and  start  to  build,  for  I  have  seen  some  educational  institutions 
that  are  adjusted  to  this  change. 

Some  summers  ago  I  spent  some  time  in  Denmark,  in  a  people's 
high  school,  of  which  there  are  two  or  three  score  in  that  little  country. 
The  people  come  there  for  five  months  in  the  year.  That  is  their  only 
experience  in  the  high  school.  There  are,  I  believe,  no  text  books,  no 
examinations,  no  standard  curriculums  for  all  the  country,  and  yet. 


ADDRESSES  193 

from  the  moment  the  boys  and  girls  get  to  the  high  school  until  they 
leave  five  months  afterwards,  they  are  as  absorbed  in  that  school  as 
the  twenty  thousand  men  were  who  attended  the  final  championship 
series  of  the  base  ball  games.  They  stay  in  school  ten,  twelve,  four- 
teen hours  a  day.  They  seem  to  absorb  education.  I  don't  know  how 
they  get  it,  but  if  you  go  around  that  little  country  among  the  men  who 
have  graduated  from  those  schools  you  will  find  a  culture  which  hasn't 
been  obtained  from  the  study  of  text  books,  but  is  a  by-product  of  the 
study  of  agriculture,  of  agricultural  chemistry,  of  co-operation,  of 
business,  of  things  they  live  in  after  life. 

Up  in  Wisconsin  there  is  a  wonderful  state  university,  and  some 
years  ago  I  spent  some  months  in  Madison,  and  I  used  to  love  to  go 
out  to  the  agricultural  college  among  the  "short  horns"  who  came  there 
for  fotirteen  weeks.  There  were  few  text  books,  little  scholastic  learn- 
ing, no  attempt  at  culture,  but  the  "short  horns"  had  a  culture  of  their 
own,  an  enthusiasm  for  life.  They  were  more  interesting  to  me  than 
any  of  the  boys  whom  I  instructed  at  the  other  end  of  the  campus, 
for  they  were  living  their  life  in  their  work  daily,  and  they  loved  it. 
And  each  man  carried  out  into  his  county  an  enthusiasm  for  science, 
for  agriculture,  for  dairying,  for  the  things  they  had  learned  there; 
and  each  one  of  those  men  became  a  prophet  of  a  new  kind  of  culture, 
a  culture  grouped  about  their  life,  in  which  they  had  pride  and  enthu- 
siasm and  self -appreciation,  self-respect,  that  I  never  found  among 
men  who  have  only  had  fourteen  weeks  of  study  about  any  other  given 
subject. 

And  that  is  my  idea  of  what  education  should  be,  when  we  adjust 
otir  collective  intelligence  to  the  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in 
life.  I  wouldn't  teach  chemistry;  I  would  teach  gardening,  agricul- 
ture, cooking,  and  have  chemistry  a  by-product.  Children  would  re- 
member chemistry  which  they  got  in  that  way.  I  wouldn't  teach 
physics  as  such.  I  would  teach  mechanics,  and  let  physics  come  in  as 
a  by-product.  I  wouldn't  teach  geometry.  I  would  teach  building, 
surveying,  carpentering,  and  get  geometry,  algebra,  mathematics,  come 
in  as'it  comes  in  life,  as  a  by-product  to  the  things  men  are  doing. 
Wouldn't  boys  and  girls  love  their  work  if  it  was  couched  in  those 
terms?  Wouldn't  they  go  out  into  life,  not  with  a  vocation  plastered 
on  to  them  as  an  afterthought,  as  a  thing  which  comes  in  the  eighth 
or  tenth  year  of  their  work,  but  which  began  at  the  beginning  and 
continued  through  until  sixteen,  in  which  boys  and  girls  had  a  voca- 
tional training  in  a  dozen  subjects,  until  all  their  thoughts  were  related, 
educationally,  artistically,  in  a  workman-like  way,  to  the  things  that 
confront  them  in  after-life? 


194  ADDRESSES 

Impossible?  No,  no  more  impossible  than  the  work  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin ;  no  more  impossible  than  the  revolutionary  change 
which  one  man  wrought  in  Denmark,  by  which  he  converted  a  barren 
tinp  of  sand  into  the  world's  market  garden,  and  made  the  Danes  the 
most  intelligent,  the  most  literate,  the  most  keenly  interested  in  every 
phase  of  life  of  any  people  I  have  been  among.  Not  through  books, 
not  through  learning  the  things  we  get  in  schools,  but  learning  life, 
even  as  children,  learning  life. 


V 

The  Chairman  :  I  am  sure  those  who  asked  me  to  take  the 
Chair  will  be  disappointed,  if  I  don't  in  some  way  commit  myself  and 
the  Board  of  Education  to-night  to  the  advancement  of  this  work. 

Mr,.  Howe's  remark  that  he  would  teach  cooking  suggests  one 
way  in  which  I  am  convinced  the  Board  of  Education  can  forward 
this  general  scheme,  namely,  by  the  increase  of  vocational  opportunity 
in  the  schools.  One  of  the  most  eminent  European  physiologists  from 
Berlin,  speaking  at  the  recent  International  Congress  at  Washington, 
said  that  he  should  like  now  to  spend  ten  years  of  his  life  in  the  kitchen, 
because  he  thought  that  the  solution  of  the  social  problem  depended 
largely  upon  the  improvement  of  cookery.  He  said,  "Feed  your  slum 
dwellers  properly,  and  they  will  soon  leave  the  slums."  He  said,  "We 
have  few  people  in  modern  civilization  who  are  actually  starved. 
We  have  many  who  are  underfed ;  and  underfed,  not  because  primarily 
they  are  unable  to  buy  the  food,  but  primarily  because  they  do  not 
know  how  to  prepare  the  food." 

Another  doctor  friend  of  mine  to-day  said  to  me,  he  himseif 
being  quite  an  expert  on  the  chemistry  of  cooking  and  on  practical 
cooking,  that  he  had  been  greatly  disappointed  at  the  work  done, 
particularly  by  great  institutions  like  Pratt  Institute  and  Teachers" 
College,  and  so  forth,  with  respect  to  cooking,  because  he  summed  it 
up  as  being  an  efifort  only  to  prepare  teachers  to  teach  other  teajrhers 
to  teach  cooking.  Now,  that  may  have  been  an  unjust  generalization. 
It  is  one  which  the  Board  of  Education  in  all  its  work  along  vocational 
lines  should  be  very  careful  not  to  come  under. 

Mr.  Blumenstock  recently  investigated  a  thousand  boys  in  the 
New  York  evening  schools  who  Avere  attending  compulsorily.  being 
under  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  found  that  out  of  that  thousand,  only 
twenty-three  had  gone  into  skilled  trades.  Practically  the  whole  of 
the  remainder  were  just  passing  their  time  and  getting  a  wage,  but 


ADDRESSES  195 

learning  nothing  which  would  advance  them  later  in  any  occupation. 
Xow,  whether  we  agree  with  one  school  in  this  room  or  the  other  as 
to  the  desirability  of  placing  anybody  under  eighteen  or  nineteen,  we 
shall  all  agree  that  when  the  boy  or  the  girl  has  actually  left  school 
end  is  going  to  evening  school,  and  the  child  has  actually  gone  to  work, 
one  of  the  greatest  boons  that  can  be  conferred  upon  that  child  is  to 
give  abundant  opportunity  in  the  evening  schools,  or  preferably  in 
continuation  schools  (which  we  hope  we  may  get  established)  for 
acquiring  skill  in  some  trade  or  calling.  And  that  can  certainly  be 
dene  by  the  Board  of  Education. 

Further,  we  have,  especially  in  the  evening  high  schools,  older 
pupils  for  whom  it  is  on  every  consideration  desirable  to  find  proper 
occupations,  and  to  whom  we  should  give  opportunities  well  to  equip 
themselves  for  those  occupations. 

Mr.  Shiels  has  recommended  this  year  that  we  provide  for  ono 
full  evening  a  week  in  each  large  evening  high  school,  a  vocational 
guide.  That  seems  to  me  to  be  an  admirable  suggestion.  A  person 
V\'ho  would  be  at  the  disposal  of  every  evening  high  school  student  to 
give  advice  and  information — at  any  rate  all  the  information  which 
is  at  present  available.  Probably  the  Board  of  Education  could  do 
.something  toward  making  more  information  available. 

A  letter  was  written  to  me  to  ask  what  I  thought  of  the  project 
of  going  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  with  a  proposal  to  spend  four 
thousand  dollars  upon  a  vocational  survey  of  the  city.  I  am  afraid 
:i  is  too  late  now  to  go  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  this  year,  and  as 
President  Miller  has  said,  that  most  masterly  body  is  yet  m  a  com- 
parative "fate  of  ignorance  on  this  subject,  and  I  think  would  not  be 
likely  to  look  favorably  at  this  moment  upon  any  such  suggestion. 
^nd  I  think  they  would  probably  be  well  advised  to  be  suspicious 
about  it  as  yet. 

Two  books  have  been  published  in  Eondon  which  Mr.  Shiels  again 
refers  to,  one  called  London  Trades  for  Boys,  and  the  other  London 
Trades  for  Girls,  w-hich  were  compiled  by  a  voluntary  association  in 
co-operation  with  the  educational  authority,  and  which  give  in  a  handy 
form  abundant  information,  such  as  a  body  or  a  vocational  guide  would 
need  in  making  choice  of  a  trade  for  which  to  prepare.  I  think  that 
if  this  society  or  some  analogous  society  should  suggest  the  compilation 
of  similar  information  in  New  York  in  co-operation  with  the  Board 
of  Education,  the  suggestion  would  be  sympathetically  received.  Some- 
thing in  that  line  is  already  being  done.  A  principal  of  one  of  the  even- 
ing schools  who  did  remarkably  good  work  last  year,  partly  along  this 
line,  a  man  who  established  vocational  classes  in  a  masterlv  manner  in 


196  A.DDRESSES 

my  own  Borough  of  Richmond,  is  now  preparing  a  map  which  will 
show  the  location  of  the  factories  which  have  their  workers  living  not 
too  far  away  to  enable  them  to  get  home  in  time  easily  to  profit  by 
evening  instruction  in  the  trade.  It  is  easiest,  of  course,  for  those  fac- 
tory workers  who  can  get  speedily  to  and  fro  to  take  advantage  of 
neighborhood  opportunities  in  vocational  training.  That  is  already 
being  done.    That  is  a  start  in  this  direction. 

It  was  suggested  two  years  ago  that  the  Board  of  Education  ap- 
point a  general  vocational  guide,  or  one  who  would  organize  this  work 
for  the  schools  of  greater  New  York.  That  scheme  has  not  yet  come 
to  fruition.  Probably  it  will.  I  think  it  depends  in  great  part  upon 
a  consensus  of  opinion  as  to  exactly  \vho  is  the  right  person  to  fill 
the  bill.  If  there  be  such  a  person  developed  within  your  society  who 
evidently  is  the  one  to  organize  vocational  guidance  in  the  schools  of 
New^  York,  the  higher  grades  of  schools  in  particular,  one  who  sees  the 
whole  field,  one  who  takes  no  narrow  view  of  the  problem,  one  who 
realizes  the  difficulties  which  have  been  put  before  you  by  Miss 
Barrows,  one  who  realizes  the  pitfalls  into  which  we  might  fall,  one 
v.ho  can  be  trusted  with  so  great  a  work  in  so  great  a  city,  on  so  great 
a  scale,  I  feel  sure  that  the  Board  of  Education  will  not  be  slow  to 
favor  the  appointment  of  that  person  at  an  adequate  salary. 

The  Board  of  Education,  I  am  certain  from  my  conversation  with 
different  members,  is  entirely  sympathetic.  We  are,  of  course,  mere 
laymen,  mere  amateurs.  You  do- not  expect  us  to  speak  with  authority 
upon  the  technique  of  the  subject.  We  expect  you  to  speak  upon  that 
technique  with  authority  to  us,  to  demonstrate  to  us  the  practicability 
of  your  schemes,  and  then,  may  I  whisper  it,  there  is  quite  a  chance 
^hat  without  going  to  the  Board  of  Estimate,  the  Board  of  Education 
may  develop  enough  backbone  to  do  it  of  their  own  accord.  In  fact,  ex- 
perience in  the  last  day  or  two  have  encouraged  me  to  believe  that  the 
Board  of  Estimate  is  getting  tired  of  running  the  schools.  And  that 
if  the  Board  of  Education  will  only  have  the  courage  of  its  convictions, 
it  may  recapture  the  situation.  You  will  have  then  a  very  affable,  very 
pleasing,  very  complacent  body  of  people  to  deal  with,  when  you  come 
to  the  settlement  of  this  question. 


ADDRESSES  197 

VI 

Dr.    William    H.   Allen 
Director    Bureau    of    Afiinicipal    Research,    New    York 

Just  a  couple  of  days  before  the  budget  was  voted  I  had  occasion  to 
say  to  a  gentleman  in  New  York,  "You  can't  make  me  mad  this 
time.  There  is  altogether  too  much  at  stake.  We  have  too  much  tc 
win.  We  are  going  to  win  first,  and  then  you  can  get  the  rise  if 
you  want  it."  Now,  it  just  happens  that  on  this  particular  occasion 
Mr.  Martin  has  given  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Reasearch  an  opor- 
tunity  to  state  what  it  has  been  feeling  for  a  very  long  while,  and  what 
it  believes  is  quite  consistent  with  the  attitude  to  which  Mr.  Martin 
lias  so  delicately  referred  to-night  in  connection  with  the  recapture  of 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  capturing  the  Bureau  of  Municipal 
Research. 

Several  things  have  happened  to-day  to  help  me  think  about 
to-night.  I  am  reminded  of  something  that  ^Mrs.  Harriman  once 
said,  which  I  am  going  to  pass  on  to  you  as  representing  pretty  welt 
my  idea  of  what  this  movement  means.  She  asked  me  to  come  once 
and  be  present  while  a  certain  educator,  wanting  some  money,  was 
presenting  a  case  to  her.  While  she  was  out  of  the  room  he  tried 
to  find  out  from  me  how  ]\1rs.  Harriman,  as  people  are  apt  to  put 
it  when  they  are  trying  to  get  money,  "could  be  reached."  When 
she  cam.e  back  he  said:  "Mrs.  Harriman,  I  believe  I  see  your  point 
oi  view.  What  you  are  working  for  is  efiicienc3\"  I  think,  perhaps, 
she  never  quite  thought  out  the  distinction  between  that  and  what 
she  herself  afterwards  said  until  she  realized  that  she  was  being 
"jollied"  by  a  big  educator.  She  flashed  right  back,  "No,  sir;  no,sir. 
What  I  am  working  for  is  opportunity  for  everybody  to  become  eftl- 
cient." 

So  when  discussing  vocational  guidance,  I  should  like  lo  suggest 
an  amendment  to  what  Dr.  Stevens  said  about  Brockton  and 
South  Dakota  and  Mississippi,  and  about  the  rural  school,  because  it 
ceems  to  me  that  our  vocation  problem  and  vocational  guidance  is 
going  infinitely  further  than  a  few  large  cities.  It  is  going  to  go 
back  to  every  place  where  there  is  a  person  in  a  so-called  educational 
relation,  or  a  so-called  employment  or  supervisory  relation  to  some- 
body else.  And  I  thought  as  he  mentioned  these  different  places,  of 
some  of  the  letters  which  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  reading  thii 
last  two  years,  .about  seven  thousand  of  ihem,  asking  for  money 
from  Mrs.  Harriman  who  wanted  to  work  out  some  vocational  guid- 
ance for  herself.  And  I  tiiought  of  some  of  these  appeals  from  'i 
person  who  has  studied  statistics  in  college  and  is  dead  sure  he  will 


198 


ADDRESSES 


make  a  master  in  municipal  research ;  a  man  who  has  taken  a  master's 
degree,  and  wants  just  a  little  help  to  become  a  great  editor;  a  woman 
who  is  confident  that  she  is  meant  to  be  a  candlestick  through  whom 
heaven's  light  would  shine,  if  given  a  chance  to  write;  the  man  who 
wanted  to  write  for  others  the  story  of  some  of  the  world's  failures, 
and  why  some  of  the  men  whom  he  knows  are  failing  (a  vocation 
that  is  certainly  needed  just  now)  ;  the  woman  w4io  is  a  spiritualist, 
rnd  replied  that  her  having  addresses,  initials,  and  events  all  wrong 
in  her  spirit  message  merely  proved  that  she  had  been  humbugged 
by  some  celestial  fraud,  "for  immortality  does  not  change  the  soul." 
Perhaps  there  is  some  lesson  in  her  answer  for  us.  Talkmg  about 
\ocational  guidance,  calling  the  name,  and  having  all  enthusiasm,  isn't 
going  to  change  a  lot  of  human  nature,  and  isn't  going  to  change  a  lot 
of  us  who  are  teachers  and  a  lot  of  us  who  are  students. 

One  of  your  conferees  came  into  my  office  yesterday  and  com- 
plained of  the  impoliteness  of  a  New  York  policeman.  She  had  said 
to  that  policeman  that  she  wanted  to  go  to  the  alms  house.  He  said, 
"All  right.  I'll  show  you.  But  I'll  tell  you  two  things  first.  You 
don't  look  it,  and  you  are  starting  mighty  young."  I  said  to  her,  "Yoa 
have  misjudged  him.  That  isn't  freshness.  That  is  vocational  guid- 
ance." 

Now,  another  instance  to  which  I  happen  to  be  party  myself,  rep- 
resents another  danger  in  this  vocational  guidance.  We  were  initiating 
a  man  in  Chi  Psi  in  the  University  of  Chicago,  who  had  once  passed 
himself  oflf  in  a  Kansas  town  as  William  J.  Bryan.  We  initiated 
him,  and  we  told  him  to  go  to  a  certain  place  and  w^ait  for  instruc- 
tion. We  instructed  him  to  walk  to  the  top  of  the  Auditorium  Tower. 
After  he  started  up  it  occurred  to  one  of  the  party  that  he  would  get 
mto  the  elevator.  Sure  enough— there  he  was  in  the  elevator.  So  we 
made  him  get  out  and  swear  that  he  would  walk  up  the  rest  of  the 
way.  We  were  in  the  position  where  we  either  had  to  let  him  ride 
or  we  had  to  walk  wath  him  up  those  nineteen  flights  of  stairs.  Now, 
the  mere  fact  that  we  send  vocational  pupils  up  to  the  tower  doesn't 
mean  that  these  people  who  are  guided  are  going  to  follow  and  are 
going  to  profit  from  that  guidance  at  all. 

The  big.  big  thing  in  this  proposition  has  seemed  to  me,  as  I  have 
listened  here  to-night,  to  be  the  vocational  guidance  that  is  coming  to 
the  community  as  a  whole.  There  is  another  aspect  to  Mr.  Howe^s 
remarks.  This  is  going  to  do  more,  in  my  judgment,  to  revolutionize 
the  attitude  of  the  public  toward  education,  and  the  attitude  of  the 
teacher  and  the  supervisor  and  the  preacher  toward  education,  more 
to  revolutionize  the  attitude  of  the  employer  toward  that  great  big 
feeder  of  employment,  the  public  school,  than  almost  anything  else 


ADDRESSES  199 

that  we  can  think  of,  because  it  takes  our  eye  away  from  the  tradi- 
tions of  education,  and  keeps  us  looking  at  the  product.  And  it  seem'? 
lo  me,  a  thing  in  which  I  am  interested  even  more  than  in  the  children 
who  are  coming  out  of  the  school,  that  as  we  get  this  vocabulary,  get 
these  words  into  our  vocabulary,  get  this  idea  of  an  objective  test  of 
what  we  are  producing  in  our  schools,  when  we  begin  to  idealize  this 
product,  and  when  we  begin  to  do  some  vocational  guiding  in  the 
training  school,  when  we  begin  to  do  some  vocational  guiding  through 
the  district  superintendents  and  the  associate  superintendent,  and  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  when  we  begin  to  get  the  people  who  are 
controlling  public  thought,  and  what  we  call  education,  to  look  at  their 
jobs  as  we  want  the  boy  of  sixteen  to  look  at  his  job,  then,  Mr.  Hovv% 
your  Danish  teacher  can  make  Latin  quite  as  interesting  as  any  cow 
that  was  ever  seen. 

We  must,  it  seems  to  me,  begin  to  push  this  idea  back  to  those 
wlio  are  training  the  teacher,  and  inside  of  a  very  few  years  I  believe 
that  the  ideas  we  are  talking  about  to-night  are  going  to  be  associated 
not  with  the  child  of  fourteen,  which  you  say  is  too  late,  not  even 
with  the  child  of  twelve,  but  it  is  going  to  be  associated  with  the  spirit 
and  the  method  and  the  product  of  our  training  schools,  the  product 
of  our  kindergartens,  the  product,  as  I  said  at  the  beginning,  of  every 
person  who  is  in  an  educational  or  supervisory  relation  to  any  other 
person. 

And  that  brings  me  to  my  theme.  Dr.  Devine  has  heard  me  use 
this  several  times.  I  am  going  to  repeat  it,  because  we  have  got  to  get 
back  to  it,  no  matter  where  our  starting  point  is.  You  remember  the 
minister.  Dr.  Devine,  who  was  always  talking  about  infant  baptism? 
No  matter  what  his  text  was,  he  always  got  back  to  infant  baptism. 
The  congregation  finally  decided  that  they  would  appoint  a  committee 
of  the  church  to  select  his  text.  The  first  Sunday  his  text  was,  "Saul, 
where  art  thou?"  At  the  proper  time  he  began  to  diyide  his  text 
into  four  parts,  namely :  All  men  are  somewhere ;  many  men  are  where 
they  ought  not  to  be;  where  ought  they  to  be;  infant  baptism.  Inas- 
much as  his  time  w^as  limited  he  would  confine  himself  to  the  fourth 
part.  Now,  my  infant  baptism  is  the  vocation  of  citizenship,  and  that 
is  the  great  big  game  I  am  gunning  for.  After  we  have  gotten  our 
training  school  men  thrilled  with  the  idea  that  thrills  you  here,  and 
when  we  have  got  the  teacher  feeling  that  way,  the  Bureau  of 
Municipal  Research  is  going  to  come  along  and  say :  "We  told  you 
so,"  because  by  that  time  the  vocation  of  citizenship  and  training 
people  for  that  vocation  is  going  to  be  imbued  with  the  same  enthusiasm 
and  the  same  definite  tests  that  we  are  trying  to  apply  now  to  this 
other  vocational  work.     Arid  at  that  time  if  there  is  a  police  inquiry, 


200 


ADDRESSES 


such  as  we  are  having  now,  and  if  at  that  lime  the  budget  is  within 
forty-eight  hours  of  being  voted  in  this  town,  and  five  milHon  people 
are  on  the  point  of  deciding  what  they  are  going  to  do  for  twelve 
months,  beginning  January  next,  there  will  be  an  infinitely  larger 
number  of  people  who  are  prepared  for  their  job  of  being  efficient 
co-workers  in  government  than  there  are  now,  and  who  carry  their 
end  of  the  load,  who  fit  the  places  they  are  put  into  and  perform  their 
tasks  with  enthusiasm  and  with  pride  for  their  instructors  and  backers, 
such  as  we  want  to  see  shown  bv  the  children  in  the  schools. 


VII 

Leonora  O'Reilly 

Secretary   Women's   Trade   Union   I>eague,   New  York 

Huxley  is  reported  to  have  said  of  his  mother  that  given  the  facts 
of  a  case  she  would  arrive  at  a  conclusion  without  delay.  When  ques- 
tioned as  to  how  she  arrived  at  her  conclusion  she  replied :  "Why,  it 
just  flashed  across  my  mind."  Her  son  said  her  conclusions  were 
almost  always  correct. 

Is  there  not  something  of  the  same  nature  in  the  mental  attitude 
of  these  pioneers  of  Vocational  Education? 

The  Board  of  Education  may  go  on  piling  up  proof  that  educa- 
tion as  given  to-day  in  our  public  schools  fits  the  child  for  life,  it  has 
flashed  across  the  minds  of  the  advocates  of  Vocational  Training  that 
we  could  easily  do  better  by  the  children  who  are  prepared  for  life  in 
our  public  schools  to-day — and  they  mean  to  make  us  fulfill  their 
aspiration. 

It  does  not  require  the  insight  of  a  seer  to  perceive  that  educators 
are  in  danger  of  getting  their  desire  to  give  the  child  vocational  train- 
ing confused  with  the  demand  of  our  industrial  market  to-day  for 
efficiency  and  efficient  work  people. 

To-day,  the  dominant  note  in  our  industrial  and  educational  sys- 
tem is  quantity  regardless  of  quality.  Industry  .so  manipulated  has 
sacrificed  the  workers  to  the  God  of  Greed.  The  workers  find  no  joy 
in  their  work :  the  product  suffers  therefore,  and  we  are  fast  becoming 
producers  of  "cheap  things  and  nasty." 

In  the  Public  School  System  both  teachers  and  pupils  are  victims, 
both  are  taxed  to  the  limit  of  physical  endurance,  both  are  overtaxed 
mentally,  neither  are  given  an  opportunity  for  individual  expression, 
they  must  both  fit  into  the  educational  system  as  a  cog  in  a  wheel. 


ADDRESSES  201 

Seventeen  pupils  are  considered  a  fair  sized  class  for  a  private 
school.  Sixty  or  seventy  can  be  drilled  in  some  of  our  public  schools, 
with  the  result  that  we  exhaust  the  energy  and  shatter  the  lives  of  the 
teachers  while  the  pupils  are  turned  out  or  drop  out  of  school  utterly 
unprepared  to  take  up  their  life's  work. 

For  such  a  system  of  education  is  the  people's  money  spent. 

In  the  midst  of  this  unscientific  organization  of  education  and 
industry  where  all  effort  is  for  speed  and  output  there  has  arisen  a 
group  of  educators  who  maintain  that  the  public  school,  supported  by 
the  people's  money,  is  the  place  to  teach  the  child  some  useful  occupa- 
tion in  order  that  it  may  find  joy  in  its  life's  work. 

These  pioneers  of  a  larger  day  for  education,  these  vocational 
training  advocates  maintain  that  while  efficiency  has  its  economic  value, 
vocational  education  calls  for  an  element  higher  which  is  psychologic. 

We,  fate,  or  circumstances  may  destine  a  person  to  an  economic 
vocation.  Nature  also  fits  a  person  to  a  vocation:  here  psychology 
intervenes.  To  harmonize  the  choice  of  a  vocation  with  natural  at- 
traction is  the  higher  aim  of  vocational  education. 

To  adjust  the  tendencies,  aptitudes,  capabilities  and  talents  of  the 
child,  to  place  them  in  complete  balance  with  the  vocation  chosen  is  to 
insure  happiness  to  the  future  worker. 

To  study  the  individual,  to  watch  the  mental  development  from 
earliest  age,  becomes  a  motive  of  primary  importance  if  we  are  to 
have  no  more  square  pegs  in  round  holes  in  the  industrial  world. 

We  are  beginning  to  understand  that  all  healthy  human  beings 
should  work  for  their  daily  bread. 

"Labor  as  a  law  of  life"  is  better  understood  every  day. 

Whether  we  labor  with  hand  or  brain  or  with  both  makes  little 
difference  so  long  as  we  perform  some  useful  service.  The  primary 
motive  for  all  vocational  education  should  be  the  child's  development. 

The  advocates  of  vocational  education  should  study  sympatheti- 
cally the  needs  and  limitations  of  the  workers. 

Vocational  teachers  should  understand  the  aspiration  of  the  labor 
movement  which  maintains  that  labor  is  a  law  of  life  and  that  upon 
the  recognition  and  fulfillment  of  this  law  depends  all  progress,  all 
morality. 

Vocational  education  properly  understood  means  that  we  realize 
that  every  child  is  born  with  tendencies,  aptitudes,  capabilities  which, 
if  properly  developed,  will  bring  happiness  to  the  individual  and  har- 
mony to  the  community. 

"Labor  is  a  law  of  life."     If  we  desire  happiness  we  must  keep 


202 


ADDRESSES 


this  law.  In  all  fairness  to  the  child  its  education  should  prepare  it 
to  understand  this  law,  which  being  fulfilled  brings  happiness;  being 
broken  brings  unhappiness  and  sorrow  to  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion. In  no  other  way  can  we  so  truly  prove  that  the  living  of  life 
is  the  getting  of  an  education. 

When  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls  was  started  it  was 
thought  as  impractical  by  the  Board  of  Education  as  the  Board  now 
thinks  Vocational  Education.  The  trade  school  dreamers  (all  practical 
women)  made  their  dream  school  a  workable  reality,  a  good  model  for 
Ihe  public  school  to  follow.  To-day  the  Board  of  Education  has  taken 
over  this  child  of  the  brain  of  women.  The  Board  is  just  as  proud 
of  the  school  now  and  working  as  disinterestedly  for  its  success  as 
if  they  had  really,  truly  brought  it  into  being. 

The  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls  as  its  name  implies,  trains 
girls  for  trade;  herein  lies  a  great  danger,  one  that  vocational  edu- 
cators will  have  to  be  careful  to  avoid  unless  they  are  as  wise  as  the 
women  who  founded  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls  were. 
As  soon  as  you  train  pupils  for  trade  you  are  in  danger  of  being  ex- 
ploited by  the  unscrupulous  employers.  This  the  pioneers  of  Man- 
hattan Trade  School  for  Girls  knew.  They  established  a  placement 
department  through  which  the  employer's  record,  the  wages  paid, 
and  the  opportunity  for  advancement  were  looked  into  before  any 
girl  was  placed  in  a  trade,  no  matter  how  urgent  the  demand  of 
the  market. 

Vocational  education  will  give  its  advocates  opportunities  for 
more  fundamental  thoughts  than  the  day's  work  and  the  day's  pay 
as  the  aim  and  end  of  all  labor. 

When  the  teacher  finds  the  child's  natural  bent  and  tries  to  fit  the 
child  for  a  vocation  he  or  she  will  get  an  insight  into  conditions  which 
led  Wendell  Phillips  to  see  in  "The  Labor  Movement  the  hope  of 
the  world." 

If  through  the  effort  to  establish  vocational  training  for  the  young 
we  learn  that  there  are  two  essential  requisites  for  all  good  work, 
first  that  the  labor  be  useful  and  second  that  it  add  to  the  happiness 
of  the  worker,  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to  understand  the  aspiration  of 
the  labor  movement. 

Everything  in  the  universe  is  held  in  place  by  the  law  of  attrac- 
tion. There  is  just  the  same  attraction  towards  work  if  we  can  find 
our  true  work. 

The  work  of  the  educator,  whether  trade,  technical  or  vocational 
teacher,  should  be  to  discover  what  work  attracts  the  pupil.     A  child 


ADDRESSES  -  203 

born  in  Brockton,  ]\Iass.,  where  they  make  shoes  may  not  be  attracted 
to  shoe  making.  Because  born  in  a  shoe  centre  it  should  not  be  des- 
tined to  see  shoes,  smell  shoes,  think  shoes  and  make  shoes  all  its 
life.  The  educator  must  help  that  child  find  itself  in  its  work  if  it 
leads  it  far  away  from  Brockton.  That  Brockton  child  may  have 
potentialities  buried  in  its  little  mind  for  which  humanity  is  waiting 
in  dire  need.  This  is  what  is  meant  by  responding  to  the  law  of  at- 
traction even  in  our  labors.  Much  of  life's  unhappiness  is  caused 
by  disregard  of  this  law. 

People  are  made  miserable  by  working  at  repulsive  tasks,  \vhen 
right  beside  them  lies  work  which  would  mean  happiness  to  them. 
Such  a  topsy-turvy  world  are  we  in.  Because  of  this  topsy-turvy- 
ness  there  are  great  opportunities  ahead  for  vocational  education. 

Vocational  education  should  fit  the  pupil  to  the  nature  of  the 
location.    It  shotdd  also  fit  the  vocation  to  the  nature  of  the  pupil. 

Our  task  should  be  to  discover  the  inherent  capacities,  abilities, 
talents  of  the  child  and  apply  such  vocational  training  as  will  develop 
such  capacities  to  the  fullest. 

We  must  teach  every  child  its  duty  to  labor,  wdiich  implies  its 
tight  to  labor,  teach  it  to  work;  never  to  shirk;  help  it  find  the  work 
it  loves  and  every  stroke  of  work  will  then  be  done  as  if  in  service 
to  their  country  and  "four  square  to  God." 

It  is  feared  vocational  education  may  cause  a  revolution  in  our 
public  school  system.  Then  let  that  revolution  come  as  "a  right  to 
seek  a  higher  rule." 

Put  your  heads,  your  hearts  and  your  souls  to  work  to  find  the 
way  to  teach  once  and  for  all  time  that  labor  is  noble  and  holy. 

Teach  labor  as  a  service  to  society  which  every  grown  person 
must  perform  or  be  a  shirker. 

Teach  that  the  w^orker  is  honorable. 

Teach  that  the  shirker  is  dishonorable.  Let  who  will  w^ork  to 
.supply  ready,  servile  workers  for  a  cheap  labor  market.  Such  is  not 
the  true  object  of  education  or  the  work  of  educators. 

In  vocational  education  we  may  lay  the  foundation  for  an  educa- 
tion to  be  built  upon  the  gospel  of  labor. 

Founded  on  the  principle  that  labor  is  a  law  of  life: 

( 1 )  That  to  be  healthy  we  must  labor 

(2)  That  to  be  happy  we  must  labor. 

(3)  That  labor  is  the  foundation  of  patriotism. 

(4)  That  labor  is  the  foundation  of  humanity. 

(5)  That  to  labor  is  noble  and  holy. 


SESSION   HELD  FOR  THE  TRANSACTION   OF  BUSINESS 
At  the  Meeting  House  of  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture 

On  Saturday,  October  26,  at  5  P.  M. 

Chairman,  Ja^nies  S.  Hiatt 
Secreta:y  Public    Education   Association,   Philadelphia 

Air.  O.  AI.  AIiLLER,  Educational  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  extended  an  invitation  to  the  Conference  to  hold  its 
next  meeting,  or  the  meeting  of  the  National  Association  proposed  to 
be  formed,  at  Cleveland. 

No  formal  action  was  taken  on  the  invitation. 

The  Chairman  :  ^^'e  have  had  too  much  of  interest  in  our  dis- 
cussions during  the  week  to  permit  the  possibility  of  further  develop- 
ments to  pass  by.  With  that  in  mind,  Superintendent  Stevens  an- 
nounced an  Organization  Committee  two  days  ago.  That  Committee 
consisted  of  AIrs.  Bryant  B.  Glenny  of  Boston,  Dr.  Arthur  D. 
DeAxN  of  Albany,  New  York,  Principal  Jesse  B.  Davis  of  Grand 
Rapids,  ^Michigan,  Miss  Henrietta  Rodman  of  New  York,  who  with- 
drew in  favor  of  AIr.  AIeyer  Bloomfield  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin C.  Grueniserg.  .Since  AIr.  Gruenberg  is  .Secretary  of  that 
Committee,  I  will  ask  him  to  present  the  report. 

AIr.  Gruenberg  :  The  Committee  had  only  two  formal  meetings, 
but  had  several  informal  conferences.  Each  member  has  conferred 
with  several  people  not  on  the  Committee,  and  we  have  made  a  con- 
scientious attempt  to  canvass  the  sentiment  in  regard  to  organization. 
The  first  suggestion  was  for  a  national  society  along  the  usual  formal 
lines,  but  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  such  an  organization  rs 
not  at  this  time  the  most  desirable,  for  a  variety  of  reasons. 

It  seems  to  your  committee  that  the  Vocational  Guidance  move- 
ment can  best  be  furthered  through  the  establishment  by  this  confer- 
ence of  a  general  committee  of  a  number  to  be  decided  upon — we  will 
call  it  .r  members.  That  committee  should  represent  workers  from 
different  parts  of  the  country  and  from  dififerent  fields  of  activity. 
This  general  committee  should  be  left  to  complete  its  own  organization 
and  to  establish  its  own  executive  machinery.  It  should  be  empowered 
to  call  another  National  Conference  at  such  time  and  place  as  it  may 
deem  wise,  and  it  should  be  authorized  to  collect  funds  for  its  neces- 
sary expenses. 

On  account  of  the  large  field  and  the  shortness  of  the  time,  this 
C.ommittee  begs  to  recommend  further  that  a  nominating  committee  of 

204 


TRANSACTION    OF   BUSINESS  205 

seven  members  be  elected  this  afternoon  from  the  floor,  by  the  con- 
ference. That  this  committee  be  instructed  to  nominate  additional 
members  to  complete  the  number  decided  upon,  and  that  these  seven 
themselves  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  general  committee.  And 
finally,  that  this  general  committee  be  instructed  to  carry  out  the  spirit 
of  these  resolutions  as  embodied  in  this  report. 

Mr.  O'Keefe  :  I  move  that  the  report  of  the  Secretary  be  adopted 
as  the  sense  of  this  meeting. 

Miss  Barrows  :    I  second  the  motion. 

Miss  Campbell:  I  wish  to  hasten  the  meeting  a  little  by  endorsing 
that,  and  asking  if  they  would  accept  as  an  amendment  that  the  present 
c(3mmittee  be  kept  in  office  as  the  nominating  committee,  instead  of  our 
going  into  an  election  or  appointment  from  the  floor,  Avith  the  further 
suggestion  that  this  nominating  committee  be  empowered  to  include 
tliemselves  in  the  general  committee. 

The  Chairman  :  Miss  Campbell's  suggestion  is  that  the  original 
committee  should  stand  for  the  nominating  committee.  The  report  of 
the  committee  is  that  seven  members  shall  be  nominated  here  and  now. 

Mr.  O'Keefe:    I  decline  to  accept  that  amendment. 

!Mr.  Weaver:  I  would  like  to  offer  this  as  an  amendment.  It 
seems  to  me  that  we  would  largely  widen  the  influence  of  this  agita- 
tion if  this  would  be  brought  under  the  scope  and  influence  of  the 
National  Education  Association.  A  section  on  Vocational  Guidance  of 
the  National  Education  Association  would  mean  more  than  a  special 
organization.     It  would  have  the  prestige  of  that  organization. 

I  would  like  to  amend,  that  when  the  organization  committee  be- 
gins its  deliberations  that  a  recommendation  be  made  that  this  organ- 
ization be  made  a  branch  of  the  National  Education  Association. 

Mr.  Davis  :  I  make  the  point  of  order  that  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee leaves  the  power  to  determine  this  matter  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  committee  that  we  are  considering.  In  other  words,  I  think 
that  ought  to  be  a  separate  motion. 

The  original  motion  was  then  put  and  was  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  Gruexberg  :  I  beg  to  call  the  attention  of  the  conference  to 
the  fact  that  the  report  of  the  committee  is  a  blank  report.  The  number 
of  the  proposed  general  committee  is  x  members.  I  put  twenty  into  the 
draft  simply  as  a  point  of  focus.  You  may  determine  that  number  or 
any  other  number  that  appears  desirable,  but  you  have  not  adopted  a 
number  in  this  motion. 

Mr.  O'Keefe  :  I  move  that  twenty  be  the  number  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried  unanimously. 


206  TRANSACTION    OF   BUSINESS 

The  following  nominations  were  then  made  for  a  committee  of 
seven : 

Miss  M.  Edith  Campbell,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Eli  W.  Weaver,  New  York  City. 

Dr.  William  Wiener^  Newark,  N.  J. 

Mr.  Meyer  Bloom  field,  Boston,  Mass. 

Mr.  J.  G.  Olmstead,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Jesse  B.  Davis,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Mr.  Arthur  D.  Dean,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Miss  Barrows  :     I  move  that  the  nominations  be  closed. 

Motion  seconded. 

The  motion  to  close  nominations  was  put  and  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  O'Keefe  :  I  now  move  that  these  seven  be  deemed  the  regu- 
larly elected  members  under  the  resolution  w'hich  has  been  adopted. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  Weaver:  I  move  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  local  committee, 
which  has  done  the  work  of  organizing  and  bringing  together  this 
meeting. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

A  Delegate:  I  would  like  to  include  in  that  motion  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  all  those  who  have  spoken  to  us  at  this  conference. 

The  mover  and  seconder  of  the  original  motion  accepted  the 
suggestion  made. 

The  Chairman  :  The  motion  is  that  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  be 
extended  to  the  central  committee  for  gathering  the  group  together 
for  discussion,  and  to  those  who  have  spoken  to  us  here. 

The  motion  was  put  and  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  Gruenberg  :  I  w- ish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
group  of  seven  w-hich  is  now  empowered  to  carry  out  the  rest  of  the 
purpose  of  this  conference  has  not  been  provided  with  any  means  of 
organizing,  and  that  it  would  be  appropriate  to  name  either  a  chair- 
man or  secretary  for  the  purpose  of  its  original  organization. 

Mr.  O'Keefe:  I  move  that  Mr.  Weaver  act  as  temporary  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Seven. 

The  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  Chairman  :  The  chair  would  suggest  that  as  four  of  the 
seven  members  of  the  committee  are  present  they  get  together  for  a 
moment  at  least. 

Mr.  W^eaver:  I  call  a  meeting  of  those  present  to  effect  a  tem- 
porary organization  after  this  meeting  adjourns. 

On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  meeting  adjourned. 


The  Co-Operative  Press 


<TRA0ESli'!';3,iC0U>iCli.- 


15  Spruce  Street,   New  York 


THE 
CO-OPERATIVE  PRESS 


15    SPRUCE   ST..  N.  Y. 


UC  SOUTHER' 


r,q:RV  i:.--i^!TY 


AA    000  988  941     1 


^TNIVER?!TTY  of  CAUFORNTA 


LIBRA  If y 


